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CONSTRUCTIVE BIBLE STUDIES 



EDITED BY 

ERNEST DEWITT BURTON 



A SHORT HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY 
IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 



BY 

GEORGE HOLLEY GILBERT 



. / 



' 



A Short History of Christianity 
in the Apostolic Age 



BY 

GEORGE HOLLEY GILBERT, Ph.D., D.D. 



Constructive Bible Studies 
College and Academy Series 



CHICAGO 

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS 

I906 



•Grb' 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

NOV B 1906 

„ \C*flyri#rt Entry . 

CLASS /\ XXc„No, 

IS ' 

COPY 



3PY B. / 



Copyright 1906 By 
The University of Chicago 



Published November, iqo6 



Composed and Printed By 

The University of Chicago Press 

Chicago, Illinois, U. S. A. 



^J- 



it 

PREFACE 

The aim of this book is to furnish Bible students a guide and com- 
panion in their investigation of the apostolic age. The author, 
cherishing that same ideal of thorough, constructive study of the 
Bible which dominates the former volumes of this series, has endeav- 
ored to do for the earliest period of church history what Professors 
Burton and Mathews have done for the life of Christ. As in that 
volume, so in this, the needs of. students in academies and colleges, 
and in the advanced classes of Sunday schools, have been constantly 
reg led. - 

Tlj's work has been done with a conviction that the simple facts 
about the gospel in the first Christian generation are as interesting 
as a great imaginative poem, as essential to a liberal education as a 
knowledge of Greek history in the time of Pericles or of English history 
in the reign of Henry VIII, and more inspiring, more illuminating 
as regards the very spirit of Jesus, than the facts of any subsequent 
period in the long history of the Christian church. 

In order that one may get the best results from the use of this 
book, it is urged that the passages of Scripture referred to in the 
synopsis at the head of each chapter be read carefully before reading 
the chapter, and then, after the chapter has been read, be studied 
again with even more care. The book wishes to be a guide to a 
certain region of early Christian history, but to the fulfilment of this 
end the student must enter that region for himself and must dwell 
in it with open eyes and open mind. Teachers who may use this 
book will, it is earnestly hoped, make plain to their pupils the neces- 
sity of securing first-hand acquaintance with the New Testament 
documents on which it is based. 

The book is divided into Parts, Chapters, and Sections, the 
limits of which are determined by the nature and relations of the 
events and literature to be studied. Teachers are advised to assign 
lessons according to their judgment of the ability of the pupils to do 
the work, always including with the sections assigned for study the 
questions that pertain to them. 



VI PREFACE 

Certain sections and paragraphs have been set in smaller type 
than the rest of the book. These deal with questions of critical 
scholarship or matters of detail, and are intended especially for teach- 
ers and the more mature pupils. Teachers should exercise their 
judgment in deciding whether this material should be assigned for 
study. If it is omitted, the questions referring to it should, of course, 
also be omitted. 

I wish to say frankly, in conclusion, that this volume owes not a 
little to the numerous suggestions of Professor Ernest D. Burton, 
of the University of Chicago. 

G.*H. G. 

Northampton, Mass. 
June 9, 1906 



\ 



INTRODUCTION 



INTRODUCTION 
SYNOPSIS 

A. Our Knowledge of the Church in the Apostolic Age 
§ i. General Survey of the Sources of Our Knowledge. 

§ 2. The Book of Acts. 

§ 3. The New Testament Epistles. 

§4. Limits of Our Knowledge. 

B. A Brief Survey of the Extension of Christianity in the Apostolic 
Age 

§ 5. The Limits of the Apostolic Age. 
§6. The Theater of Action. 
§ 7. The Numerical Result. 

§ 8. The Relation of the Jewish Church and the Roman Government to 
Christianity. 

A. OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE CHURCH IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

§ 1. General Survey of the Sources of Our Knowledge. — There 
are two great sources whence we derive our knowledge of the church 
in the earliest period of its history, viz., the book of Acts and the New 
Testament epistles and Apocalypse. The gospels also, with the pos- 
sible exception of John, were indeed written in this period, and are 
not without value for our view of the development of thought in the 
first century, though they are directly concerned with the work of 
Jesus. They throw light, for instance, on the early interpretation 
of Old Testament prophecy and on the primitive growth of the 
doctrine of the person of Christ. 

Again, there are other Christian writings, notably the First Epistle 
0) Clement to the Corinthians and the Teaching 0) the Twelve Apostles, 
which, though written at the close or even beyond the close of the 
apostolic age, afford us some help, especially in constructing a picture 
of the Christian thought of that time. 

Finally, the Roman historian, Suetonius, in his Life 0] Claudius, 
and Tacitus, in his Annals, are of value for the light they shed on 
the earliest persecutions. 

3 



4 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

But these sources of information, while valuable, particularly for 
advanced students, are quite subordinate to Acts and the epistles. 

§ 2. The Book of Acts. — This writing is presented as a continuation of the 
third gospel, which it calls "the former treatise" (Acts 1:1). Like that it is ad- 
dressed to Theophilus, a Christian whom the author wished to establish thoroughly 
in the faith (Luke 1:3). The two books are also intimately bound together by a 
common literary style of a high order of excellence. It is generally recognized, 
therefore, that they are the work of the same author. Who this author was 
the gospel does not at all indicate, but the book of Acts with the letters of Paul 
gives us valuable hints. For in certain parts of Acts (viz., 16:10-17; 2 ° : 5~ 
21 : 18; 27 : 28) the narrative is carried on in the first person. In these sections 
the narrator is a companion of Paul who went with him from Troas to Philippi 
on the second missionary journey, later from Philippi to Jerusalem, and finally 
from Caesarea to Rome. Now only two friends seem to have been with Paul 
on his eventful voyage to Rome, of whom one was Aristarchus, a Macedonian 
of Thessalonica (Acts 27:2), and the other, the unnamed author of the account 
of this voyage In the letters written by Paul from Rome we seem to get near 
to this unnamed author. There are five 1 men with Paul, one of whom he mentions 
as sending greeting to his readers, viz., Aristarchus, then Mark, Epaphras, Luke, 
and Demas (Col. 4: 10-14; Philemon 23, 24), and we naturally look among these 
men for the author of the description of the voyage to Rome and of the other 
parts of Acts which are written in the first person. Now four of these five men 
are excluded from the authorship of the diary. Aristarchus is excluded by 
Acts 27:2, where he is mentioned by name and distinguished from the writer. 
Mark is excluded by the fact that he was not with Paul on the second missionary 
journey (Acts 15:39). Epaphras was a Colossian (Col. 4:12), and as Paul 
did not labor in the vicinity of Colossa? until the third missionary journey, there 
is no ground for thinking that Epaphras can have been with him on the 
second journey. Demas is apparently excluded by 2 Tim. 4 : 10, for Paul there 
says that he had forsaken him, having loved this present world. But it is improb- 
able that a man who had continued with Paul in all the perils recorded in Acts 
16 : 21-22; 27; 28 would at last forsake him out of love for the present world. 
There remains, then, of the five men, who were with Paul when he wrote to 
the Colossians and Philemon, only Luke, the "beloved physician" (Col. 4:14). 
We have ground, therefore, for ascribing to him the authorship of the diary which 
is embedded in Acts. 

But it seems most natural to hold that he who wrote this diary wrote 
also the entire book, since a man of literary ability like that of the author of 
Acts would scarcely have incorporated in his history, in an unchanged form, 
the diary of some other man. With a good degree of confidence, therefore, 
we hold, with the church of the second century, that the author of Acts and of 
the third gospel was Luke. 

» Six in Colossians; but the sixth (Jesus called Justus), being wholly unknown, is 
ignored in the above statement. 



INTRODUCTION 5 

In view, moreover, of the identity of the author of Acts and the third gospel, 
we apply to the composition of Acts what is said in the introductory verses of 
the third gospel (Luke 1:1-4). and hold that the author's careful investigation 
of his material furnishes good ground on which to accept the general trustwor- 
thiness of his narrative. In the parts covered by the diary he had first-hand 
knowledge. In other parts, as in the account of the first missionary journey, 
he needed no other source than Paul. For the history of the founding of the 
church and of the earliest spread of Christianity, especially for the long addresses 
of Peter and Stephen, he was probably dependent, at least in part, on the writings 
of others. 

The purpose of Acts, as we may infer from the author's words in the preface 
to the gospels, was to inform and establish Theophilus, and the specific plan 
by which this was to be accomplished is suggested in Acts 1:8. It was to narrate 
the triumphant manner in which men had borne witness to Jesus from Jeru- 
salem to the ends of the earth. 

As to the time when Acts was written, those who hold it to be the work of 
Luke are divided between an earlier date (59-65 A. d.) and a later (75-80 A. d.), 
the preference now being for the second. 

§ 3. The New Testament Epistles. — The second main source of knowledge 
regarding the church in the apostolic age is the New Testament letters. The 
composition of all these documents, if we except 2 Peter, probably falls within 
the first century. The authorship of some of them, e. g., 2 Peter and Hebrews, 
is entirely unknown; that of a somewhat larger number is regarded by many 
scholars as uncertain — this number including, among others, the two epistles 
to Timothy and Titus, the epistles of John, and the Apocalypse; but the author- 
ship of the more important half of the whole group of writings is very generally 
accepted as reasonably sure. This number includes ten letters of Paul and one 
of Peter. 

As compared with Acts these New Testament epistles introduce us to the 
teaching which was current in the apostolic age rather than to the external 
history of the church. And yet at the same time it is in these letters that we 
get some of our most vivid pictures of the effects which the new preaching pro- 
duced. The book of Acts unrolls a large historical canvas before us; the letters 
contain miniatures. 

§ 4. Limits of Our Knowledge. — While we know much of the 
history of the church in the apostolic age, it is wise to remember 
that our knowledge is limited on every side. Of the work of nine of 
the apostles whom Jesus chose and trained, and whom he sent out 
to bear witness even to the end of the earth, we know nothing at all. It 
is not once mentioned in our sources. Of the remaining two apostles 
— Peter and John — the latter simply appears a few times as the 
usually silent companion of Peter. Whether he preached and founded 



6 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

churches, and if so, where, we do not know. Peter is the hero of the 
early part of Acts, and we have glimpses of his movements until the 
death of James (Acts 12:2). We also know from Paul a little 
about his later career (Gal. 2 : 11 ; 1 Cor. 1:12; 9:5); but if he suf- 
fered martyrdom in the reign of Nero, as ancient tradition affirms, 
there is a period in his life of at least twenty years which is to us 
practically a blank. We know of one short evangelistic tour by him 
besides his early activity in Jerusalem, but that is all. If he made 
other and extensive tours, which seems probable (cf. Gal. 2:9), and 
if he founded churches or had great influence in other ways as the 
rock-apostle, there is no record of these things. 

Thus our knowledge of the work of the original apostles is ex- 
ceedingly meager. It passed into history largely as an impersonal 
force. It found no Luke to chronicle it for coming generations. 

Paul is the only man of the apostolic age whose labors have been 
recorded with any fulness, and yet our knowledge even of him is 
but fragmentary. Thus of the first fourteen years of his Christian 
activity thirteen are practically unknown. He had worked many 
years as a foreign missionary before he went out from Antioch on 
the so-called first missionary journey. He was a great preacher, 
but we have none of his sermons; at most, five-minute abstracts or 
reports of a few of them. He was a great organizer and administrator ; 
but though we have important information regarding these phases of 
his activity, the sources leave us uncertain on some points. 

Of the inner history of the church also in Paul's day our infor- 
mation is not complete. We know, e. g., that there were grave 
misunderstandings between the Jewish and the gentile Christians, 
but we have no statement of the case from one who fully sympathized 
with the Jewish position. Again, we know that believers in Paul's 
time were made acquainted with the life and the teaching of Jesus, 
but what written accounts of these were in circulation, and how 
such accounts were regarded in comparison with the Old Testa- 
ment, no one is in a position to say definitely. 

These points may suffice to suggest the limitations of our knowl- 
edge regarding the church of the earliest age, and the need of caution 
in the use of our sources. 



INTRODUCTION 7 

B. A BRIEF SURVEY OF THE EXTENSION OF CHRISTIANITY 
IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

§ 5. The Limits of the Apostolic Age. — The apostolic age began 
when the disciples became convinced of the resurrection of Jesus. 
The date of this event can be approximately determined ; it probably 
belongs to the year 30 a. d. ; but the close of the period is indefinite. 
The term itself naturally suggests that the period closed with the 
death of the last of the apostles whose work and death are known; 
but the death of the three men of whose labors we have any consider- 
able information, viz., Peter, John, and Paul, is not recorded in the 
New Testament. A very old tradition puts the death of Peter and 
Paul in the persecution of the Christians under Nero (64-66 A. d.), 
and that of John in the time of Domitian, near the close of the first 
century. Now, since we have no direct information whatever regard- 
ing the history of the church from the death of Peter and Paul to the 
time of Clement of Rome, approximately from 65-95 a. d., it seems 
more natural to find the terminus of the age in 65 A. D. than in the 
death of John. But wherever we set the exact limit, it will remain 
true that the Apostolic Age practically closed some thirty-five years 
after the great day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1). This is the length of 
the first creative epoch in the history of Christianity. 

It is beyond the scope of the present work to enter into an extended 
discussion of the chronology of the period. Within the thirty-five 
years above referred to there are two events to which there are refer- 
ences in contemporary history which enable us to determine their 
dates with approximate accuracy. These events are the death of 
Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:23) and the accession of Festus (Acts 
24: 27). The former of these events took place in 44 a. d. ; the latter 
probably in the summer of 58 A. d., though some modern scholars 
date it as early as 55 a. d., and some as late as 60 a. d. Into the 
chronological framework determined by these relatively fixed points 
the other events of the period can be fitted with varying degrees of 
certainty and definiteness. The result, subject to doubt on many 
points of detail, but at no point very wide of the mark, is exhibited 
in the following table of the approximate dates of the 



5 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOi. r E 

CHIEF EVENTS OF THE APOSTOLIC AGE 1 

27 or 30 A. d. Death and resurrection of Jesus; Pentecost. 

32 A. d. The conversion of Paul. 

32-35 a. d. In Arabia and Damascus. 

35-44 A. d. In Syria and Cilicia. 

44 A. d. The planting of the church in Antioch. 

45-47 a. d. Paul's first missionary journey. 

48 A. d. The conference in Jerusalem. 

49-51 a. d. Paul's second missionary journey. 

52-56 a. d. Paul's third missionary journey. 

56-58 A. d. Paul's two years' imprisonment in Caesarea. 

58-59 A. d. Paul's voyage to Rome. 

59-61 a. d. Paul's two years' imprisonment in Rome. 

64 A. d. The death of Paul. The death of Peter also probably occurred not 
far from this time. 

70 A. d. The destruction of Jerusalem. 

64-100 a. d. A period of relative obscurity; the gospels, the Revelation, and 
several New Testament letters were written, but of the external events little is known. 

§ 6. The Theater of Action. — The ministry of Jesus was limited 
to an area about 100 miles in extent from north to south, and 
half that distance from east to west. The labors of the apostolic 
age, so far as known to us, extended across a territory some 2,000 
miles from east to west and 700 from north to south. If we leave 
Rome out of account, the- field of apostolic labor is at once reduced 
to about 1,000 miles from east to west and 500 from north to south. 
The course of the gospel across this region was along the Mediter- 
ranean coast, first northward to Antioch, then westward and north- 
westward to Troas and Philippi, and finally southward to Corinth. 
The missionary work of which we have record was confined chiefly 
to four large cities, viz., Jerusalem, Syrian Antioch, Ephesus, 
and Corinth, and to seven others of lesser size, of which four were 
in Asia Minor, viz., Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, and 
three in Greece, viz., Philippi, Thessalonica, and Bercea. The work 
of evangelization was extended rapidly from these centers through 
the surrounding country (see, e. g., Acts 14: 7; 19:10), but of this 
wider work within the period under consideration we know little. 

i Fot the sake of completeness we give the approximate date of the death of 
Jesus. This rests upon grounds of its own which are independent of the Pauline 
chronology. 

References to literature on the subject are given under § 10. 



INTRODUCTION 9 

§ 7. The Numerical Result. — On the day of Pentecost there 
were 120 believers gathered together in Jerusalem (Acts 1:15), who, 
although not all of those who had faith in Jesus as the Messiah, 
probably included the most vigorous elements of the whole company ; 
at the close of the period there were companies of Christian disciples 
in thirty cities and towns mentioned by name in our sources, 1 
besides a considerable number of churches known to have existed 
though not named (see Acts 9:31; 15:41; 1 Cor. 1:2; 1 Pet. 1:1; 
Titus 1:5). Furthermore, the fragmentary character of our sources 
makes it probable that the results of evangelistic effort prior to the 
year 65 A. D. were considerably more extensive than we are able to 
point out in detail. It can scarcely be doubted, for instance, that 
the work of Paul and Barnabas in Cyprus, followed by that of Barna- 
bas and Mark, bore fruit in the planting of a number of churches, 
and as little can we doubt that the message of Jesus was proclaimed 
in Alexandria and on the Euphrates before the death of Peter and 
Paul. 

Of the size of the Christian communities of whose existence we 
have definite knowledge nothing certain can be said. The early 
development of the church in Jerusalem assumed large proportions, 
as did that of the churches in the Syrian Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth, 
and Rome. The riots occasioned by the preaching of the gospel 
in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Ephesus indicate plainly that the 
adherents of the new religion had become a power of no small mag- 
nitude. But of the total number of disciples won between Pentecost 
and the death of Paul, it is clearly impossible to speak except in the 
most general manner. The sources justify us in saying that the 
country bordering on the north coast of the Mediterranean as far as 
Corinth and also the interior of Asia Minor were thoroughly leav- 
ened by the gospel. 

§ 8. The Relation of the Jewish Church and the Roman Gov- 
ernment to Christianity. — From Pentecost to the Neronian perse- 
cution the authorities of the Jewish church opposed the work of 
Christian missions both among the Jews and the gentiles, but the 

1 Damascus, Jerusalem, Samaria, Lydda, Joppa, Caesarea, Ptolemais, Tyre, 
Sidon, Antioch (S.), Antioch (P.), Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, Ephesus, Colossae, Troas, 
Philippi, Thessalonica, Beroea, Athens, Corinth, Puteoli, Rome, Smyrna, Pergamum 
Thyatira, Sardis, Laodicea, Philadelphia. 



IO CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

Roman government took no notice of these missions as a religious 
movement. There were Christian martyrs in this period, but they 
fell before religious fanaticism, not as victims of political persecu- 
tion. The power which had brought Jesus to the cross sought from 
the first to stamp out the movement instituted in his name. Apostles 
were imprisoned and beaten, and one was beheaded ; the first of the 
" seven " was stoned, and at one time the persecution was so hot in 
Jerusalem under the leadership of Paul that most Christians appear to 
have been driven from the city. Saul had no successor in the work 
of persecution of zeal and ability equal to his own, but the spirit of 
the Jewish authorities remained unchanged throughout the apostolic 
age, and wherever the gospel was preached the great majority of the 
Jews opposed its spread. But, while this is true, we should remem- 
ber that a few Jews accepted it, and that from among these few 
came the greatest of the missionary workers — Paul and Barnabas, 
Stephen and Philip, Aquila and Apollos and Silas. The spread of 
the new religion in the apostolic age, though chiefly successful among 
the gentiles, was carried on by Christian Jews. 

The state, as we have said, took no notice of the Christian mis- 
sionaries as religious teachers during this first period. It was as safe 
to be a Christian as to be a Jew or an idolater, so far as the Roman 
government was concerned. Paul was apprehended and brought 
to trial, but only on one occasion was it made a ground of accusation 
against him that he was a follower of Jesus (Acts 24:5), and Felix, 
the Roman procurator, paid no attention to the charge. When 
the successor of Felix sent Paul to Rome to be tried before the em- 
peror, he confessed that he had no definite charge to send with him 
though he knew that Paul differed religiously from the Jews. What- 
ever opposition, therefore, the Christian missionaries experienced 
from the Roman government in the apostolic age — and it was slight 
— was due to other causes than their religious faith. 

§9. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) Name the two 
chief sources of our knowledge of the apostolic age. (2) What 
value have the gospels in this connection ? (3) What other writ- 
ings bear on the subject ? (4) How is Acts related to the third gos- 
pel? (5) What light do Acts and the epistles throw on the author- 
ship of the diary ? (6) What may we infer from Luke 1 : 1-4 regard- 



INTRODUCTION 1 1 

ing the historical character of Acts ? (7) What are the purpose and 
specific plan of Acts ? (8) When was Acts written ? 

(9) What New Testament letters are widely accepted among 
scholars as of known authorship? (10) How do the epistles 
compare with Acts as sources for the history of the apostolic 
age? 

(11) How complete is our knowledge of the work of the original 
apostles? (12) What notable gaps are there in our knowledge of 
the career of Paul ? (13) Illustrate the incompleteness of our knowl- 
edge of the internal history of the apostolic church. 

(14) Define the apostolic age chronologically. (15) Describe 
in general the theater of Christian activity in the apostolic age. (16) 
How many cities and towns are mentioned in our sources in which 
the gospel was planted in the apostolic age ? (17) What bearing has 
the fragmentariness of our sources on the question of the extension 
of the gospel in the apostolic age ? 

(18) What was the general attitude of the Jewish church toward 
Christianity in the apostolic age ? (19) Of what nationality were 
most of the great missionaries of that time ? (20) What was the 
general attitude of the Roman government toward Christianity in 
the apostolic age ? 

§ 10. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to 
Literature. 1 — 1. From the study of the diary, the so-called "we- 
sections" (Acts 16:10-17; 2o: 5 — 21:18; 27:1 — 28:31), make a 
narrative of the experiences that the author of Acts shared with 
Paul. 

2. On the sources of our knowledge of the apostolic age, see espe- 
cially the recent works on New Testament introduction, as those of 
Salmon, Godet, Holtzmann, Julicher, and Bacon. 

3. On geography look up in any standard atlas the location of 
the cities mentioned in § 7. 

4. On the attitude of the Roman government toward Christianity, 
see: 

Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire, pp. 346-60. 

1 The literature referred to in all the paragraphs with this heading will be in English. 
The aim of the references is simply to start the student in his collateral reading, and 
hence the number of references will not be large. 



12 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

5. On the chronology of the apostolic age, see; 

Schurer, Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Div. 2, Vol. II, 
pp. 163, 182 ff.; Burton, Records and Letters of the Apostolic Age, pp. 201 ff., 
McGiffert, The Apostolic Age, pp. 356 ff., 673; Turner, in Hastings' Dictionary 
of the Bible, article on "Chronology of the New Testament;" Mathews, in 
Biblical World, Nov., 1897, pp. 353 ff. 



PART I 
THE PRIMITIVE JEWISH CHURCH IN JERUSALEM 



CHAPTER I 

THE DISCIPLES RALLIED AND WAITING FOR THE SPIRIT 

SYNOPSIS 

§11. The reality of the resurrection. Acts 1:1-5; also Gal. 1:15-17; 1 

Cor. 15:4-8; Matt. 28; Luke 24; 
John 20, 21 

§12. The ascension. Acts 1:6-11; Luke 24:51; John 20:17; 21:19-22; 

Rom. 8:34; Eph. 4:9, 10 

§ 13. The gathering in Jerusalem. Acts 1:12-14; Luke 24:52, 53 

§ 14. The choice of Matthias. Acts 1:15-26 

§ 11. The Reality of the Resurrection. — The book of Acts and 
the apostolic age do not begin with Pentecost, but with the resur- 
rection. There would have been no gathering of disciples in the 
upper chamber and no Pentecost, had they not previously been 
convinced that their Master was alive. With any difficulties that 
stand in the way of our forming a clear conception of the resurrec- 
tion of Jesus it is not our present task to deal. We are concerned 
here with a simple fact of history, viz., that the makers of the apos- 
tolic age were convinced of the reality of the resurrection of Jesus. 
The author of Acts begins his record of the great period with this 
event. We must do the same, for the apostles themselves and their 
deeds can not be understood unless we hold that the resurrection of 
their Master was an absolute reality to them. We see a stream of 
creative power flowing on through the apostolic age, and though we 
can not observe the sources of that power and explain them, we can 
not fail to see that the actors in this period believed that the power 
came from the resurrection of Jesus and the Spirit of God. And 
whatever mystery may remain around this double source of the 
transforming power manifested in the apostolic age, we do not know 
of any other adequate explanation of the fact than that which we 
find in the earliest records. 

The mode of the resurrection of Jesus and the nature of his appearances 
to the disciples may never become altogether clear, but no fact of history is 
better established than that the disciples were convinced of having met the risen 

15 



THE DISCIPLES WAITING FOR THE SPIRIT 1 7 

Lord face to face. Moreover, it seems impossible to account for this conviction 
without accepting a real return of Jesus to them, whatever may have been the 
nature or form of that return. For the conviction of his resurrection arose when 
the disciples were overwhelmed with sorrow; it persisted to the end of their 
lives; it was the fundamental fact in their testimony; and their testimony founded 
the Christian church. 

J 12. The Ascension. — Luke is the only New Testament writer 
who speaks of a definite historical ascension of Jesus, and he does 
this only in Acts. The last that he says of Jesus in the gospel is that, 
having blessed the disciples on the Mount of Olives, he " parted 
from them." The ascension described in Acts took place forty 
days 1 after the resurrection; it took place on the Mount of Olives 
in the presence of the apostles, and was a visible phenomenon 
(Acts 1:9, 10). The event is evidently thought of as concluding 
the series of manifestations of the risen Lord to the disciples who 
had known him in the flesh, preceding his taking his seat at the right 
hand of the Father. It could hardly be otherwise than that the 
last of these appearances should be looked upon as ending in the 
departure of Jesus to heaven (cf. i Thess. 1:10). 

The language recording the ascension is, of course, that of appearance, 
expressing in the forms of thought which were natural to the early Christians 
(according to which, e. g., heaven was above them) their interpretation of their 
experiences. The resurrection and the exaltation, between which the narrative 
of the ascension furnishes a link of connection, are conspicuous in the faith of 
the early church as reflected in the New Testament, but the ascension, as we 
have seen, is directly mentioned only once as a fact of history. Our belief in 
Jesus as the risen and reigning Savior would be the same had Luke not written 
Acts 1:9-11. That Jesus rose from the dead and was exalted to a throne of 
power were fundamental elements of early Christian faith; but how he finally 
passed into the unseen world, at what time, or in what place, these questions are 
plainly unimportant. 

§ 13. The Gathering in Jerusalem. — The disciples were scat- 
tered by the death of Jesus. The Gospel of Mark records that Jesus 

1 The number forty is sometimes used symbolically both in the Old Testament and 
the New Testament (e. g., Ex. 34:28; 1 Kings 19:8; Mark 1: 13), and that is probably 
its use in the present case. The period of forty days that preceded the public ministry 
of Jesus was naturally followed by a period of equal length at the close of that ministry. 
The latter period like the former may have been regarded as one of trial, because 
the risen Lord during these days was not yet seated at the right hand of God in glory 
and power. 



1 8 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

had foreseen that this would be the case (Mark 14:27). When he 
was arrested, all the eleven fled, and only one or two of them are seen 
again until we come to the narrative of the appearances of the risen 
Lord. It was doubtless the appearance of Jesus after his resurrec- 
tion which reunited the apostles, as it was that which lifted them up 
out of the weakness and despair into which his death plunged them. 
Though we should perhaps gain a different impression as to the 
places of this reunion from the third and fourth gospels, taken alone, 
the decisive experience seems to have taken place in Galilee (Mark 
14:27, 28; 16:7; Matt. 26:31, 32; 28:10). It was there amid the 
scenes of the most fruitful labors of Jesus that we are to put that ap- 
pearance of him to more than five hundred disciples at once, of 
which Paul makes mention (1 Cor. i5:6). 1 

But though the apostles had a decisive experience in Galilee 
which fulfilled the word that Jesus had spoken before his arrest, they 
returned to Jerusalem before they began their great work. At what 
time exactly and under what motives they left Galilee and went up 
to the city where their Lord had been crucified, it is not possible to 
determine. The simple fact that they went is evidence that they 
had something of the spirit of the Master, for they probably had 
not forgotten his word that their way, like his, was to be one of suf- 
fering at the hands of their countrymen (e. g., Matt. 10:24, 2 5> 
Mark 13:9). 

§ 14. The Choice of Matthias. — In the interval between the re- 
turn of the apostles to Jerusalem and the first great public act of 
their ministry, which interval appears to have been brief, the book 
of Acts puts two significant events, to wit, a private gathering of cer- 
tain disciples for prayer, and the appointment of a man to the vacant 
place of Judas. 

It is noticeable that in the days immediately following the ascen- 
sion, the apostles, according to Luke's gospel (24:53), were " con- 
tinually in the temple, blessing God," while the event of which Acts 
speaks, in the same situation, is a private gathering for prayer. These 
events are certainly not to be identified. We know of no " upper 
room" in the temple for private religious assemblies, and it is alto- 
gether improbable that, had there been such a room, it would have 

1 See Gilbert, Student's Life of Jesus, pp. 328, 329. 



20 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

been at the disposal of a company of Galilean fishermen whose 
teacher had just been crucified at the instigation of the religious 
authorities who had charge of the temple. We think of the meeting 
therefore, as in some private house, not unlikely in that room in 
which the Last Supper had been celebrated, which may have been 
in the home of Mary, the mother of Mark. 

The disciples went to the temple from day to day as pious Jews; 
they met together for prayer in a private room as disciples of Jesus, 
for we can not doubt that it was his example which led them to this 
simple informal act of worship. As to the object of their prayer, 
the situation suggests that their thought was occupied with the com- 
ing kingdom and their relation to it. 

The second significant event which fell in this interval was the 
choice of a twelfth apostle. This act shows that the eleven had 
recovered their presence of mind, and also that they were conscious 
of a mission. In appointing, as a successor to Judas, one who had 
personal knowledge of the ministry and the resurrection of Jesus, 
they were evidently anticipating a work of bearing witness to that 
resurrection and that ministry. It accords with what the gospels tell 
us of Peter, that he was the one to suggest this choice; it accords 
with the principle of brotherhood found in the gospel that the whole 
company of believers participated in this first appointment in the 
church; and it accords with the new conception of God that the 
disciples did not proceed to make use of the ancient mode of giving 
lots until they had first prayed the Lord to show them his will by 
means of this device. It illustrates the meagerness of our knowl- 
edge of the men who had walked with Jesus that these two who were 
thought worthy even of a place with the eleven apostles are not 
mentioned in the gospels or elsewhere in the New Testament. 

§ 15. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) With what 
conviction did the apostolic age begin ? . (2) To what two sources 
must we attribute the power of the apostles and other disciples ? 

(3) Which of the evangelists make no reference to an ascension 
of Jesus ? (4) Describe the last appearance of Jesus recorded in 
Matthew, Luke, John 20 and John 21. (5) Describe his last appear- 
ance according to Acts 1:6-12. (6) What is the important thought 
in the ascension ? (7) How does the mode of Jesus' departure from 



THE DISCIPLES WAITING FOR THE SPIRIT 21 

the earth compare, in the importance assigned to it in early Chris- 
tian thought, with his resurrection and sitting at God's right hand ? 

(8) What immediate effect did the death of Jesus have on his 
disciples ? (9) Where, according to Mark and Matthew, were the dis- 
ciples to expect a vision of Jesus after his resurrection ? (10) Where 
is it most probable that his appearance to more than five hundred 
disciples took place? (11) What gave new life to the apostles and 
reunited them? (12) What spirit did they show by returning to 
Jerusalem ? 

(13) What significant events fell between the return of the apostles 
to Jerusalem and the great day of Pentecost ? (14) Where did the 
apostles spend much time after they had returned to Jerusalem ? 
(15) What reasons are there for thinking that the meeting for prayer 
was in a private house ? (16) In whose house may this meeting 
have taken place, and what other events may have occurred in the 
same room? (17) What did the choice of a twelfth apostle show 
in regard to the state of mind of the eleven ? (19) What constituted 
a man fit to become the successor of Judas ? (20) What candidates 
were put forward by the company of believers ? (21) By what means 
did they seek to find out whom the Lord had chosen ? 

§ 16. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Litera- 
ture. 

1 . From the study of Acts 1 : 2-26 ; Luke 24 : 44-53, write a chapter 
introductory to the history of the Jewish church in Jerusalem. 

2. Search out and read carefully the various addresses of Peter 
in Acts 1-12. 

3. Read the addresses ascribed to Peter in Acts, and then with 
these in mind read 1 Peter. 

4. Among the recent general works on the apostolic age mention 
may be made of the following: 

Weizsacker, The Apostolic Age of the Christian Church, 2 vols. 1894, 95; 
McGiffert, A History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age, 1897; and Bartlet r 
The Apostolic Age: Its Life, Doctrine, Worship and Polity, 1899. 

5. Of works which treat of particular features of Christianity in 
the apostolic age, the student is referred to : 

Ramsay, The Church in the Romzn Empire, 1893, an d Harnack, History of 
Dogma, Vol. I, pp. 41-212. 



CHAPTER II 

THE DAY OF PENTECOST 

SYNOPSIS 

§ 17. The coming of the Spirit. Acts 2:1-13; also Acts 10; 19:1-7 

§ 18. The sermon of Peter. Acts 2:14-36 

§19. The conversion of three thousand. Acts 2:37-41 

§ 20. The disciples in peace and favor. Acts 2:42-47 

§ 17. The Coming of the Spirit. — At one of the private meetings 
for prayer (see Acts 1:14), that one, namely, which fell on Pente- 
cost, the fiftieth day from the first day of the Passover (Lev. 23:15, 
16), hence about seven weeks after the crucifixion of Jesus, some- 
thing great and decisive took place in the little circle of Christian 
disciples. They all came into a new and vital sense of communion 
with God; they were "filled with the Holy Spirit." An evidence of 
this new consciousness of the presence of God with them, indeed, 
the plainest evidence that could be given, is the fact that on this day 
and in the days following, the disciples bore witness regarding Jesus 
with such power that their numbers were largely and steadily in- 
creased. These are essential facts of Pentecost and its results. 

The first of these facts — the being filled with the Spirit — is set forth in Luke's 
story with various details of a miraculous character. First, the house where the 
disciples were gathered was suddenly invaded by a sound from heaven, which 
was like the rushing of a mighty wind. Then there appeared to the company 
something like tongues of fire, and one of these bright objects rested on the head 
of each one present. Straightway all began to speak with "other tongues." 

This last detail is to be especially noticed. It is plain from vss. 5-12 that 
Luke meant a speaking in foreign languages. It was, therefore, unlike the 
ecstatic speech which we find in Caesarea, Ephesus, and Corinth (Acts 10:46; 
19:6; 1 Cor. 14). This was called speaking "with tongues" or "in a tongue." 
It was a speaking to God, and was not understood without an interpreter (1 Cor. 
14:2), while the Pentecostal speech was to men and was understood by the 
hearers. 

The speaking with " other " tongues was, according to Luke, not only super- 
natural, it was also temporary. For when Peter stood up and spoke to the 
crowd who had come together, he addressed all the different nationalities at 
once, and there is no suggestion that he spoke any language except his own 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST 23 

mother-tongue. In his later ministry, according to Papias, Peter had Mark as 
an interpreter, another evidence that he had no supernatural gift of speech in 
foreign languages. 

Now as against the view of the text, it may be said that there is no adequate 
purpose for the miracle. According to vs. 12 the people were simply amazed 
and perplexed by the strange speaking. It did not convert them. That was 
done by Peter's sermon in Aramaic, which all the people apparently understood. 
Nor was the alleged miracle needed to teach that the gospel of Jesus was for all 
mankind. Jesus himself had plainly declared as much (see, e. g., Mark 14:9), 
and the truth of his word did not require the confirmation of a spectacular miracle. 

It is, in fact, probable that the difference between this event and those which 
are so explicitly described by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians lay not in the 
facts themselves, but that the peculiar feature of this narrative, according to 
which the disciples spoke foreign languages understood by the hearers, crept 
into the tradition as a misunderstanding of the fact in the process of transmission 
from the event to the time when the story reached Luke. Indeed, even the 
narrative of Luke contains a clear hint of the nature of the historical event. For 
it was charged against the apostles that they were filled with new wine. But 
this charge does not accord with the rest of the narrative. When a man speaks 
in a foreign tongue, even those who do not understand him do not get the impres- 
sion that he is drunk. If, however, the phenomenon was ecstatic speech, the 
charge was quite natural, as we may see from the words of Paul (1 Cor- 
14:23). 

The value of Luke's narrative is not lessened for us in modern 
times, but rather heightened, if the underlying reality was not 
a speaking in foreign tongues, but ecstatic speech, the expression 
of an almost boundless enthusiasm. That the men whose Master 
had recently been crucified were now overwhelmed with feelings of 
joy and gratitude so deep that their attempts to express themselves 
on "the mighty works of God" were momentarily unintelligible, 
is surely a striking proof that the kingdom of this Master was the 
great reality for them. 

§ 18. The Sermon of Peter. — What Luke gives us as the sermon 
of Peter on this great occasion is easily read in three minutes. This 
fact of itself suggests that what we have is at best a short abstract or 
epitome of what the apostle said. We may suppose that a brief 
version had been handed down through the forty or fifty years that 
elasped before the composition of the book of Acts, or that the ser- 
mon, having been preserved in fuller form, was epitomized by Luke. 
Not only is it natural to suppose that the substance of a sermon 



24 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

which had such important results was long preserved in Jerusalem, 
but the close relation of the sermon to the epistle of Peter, especially 
to the first chapter of that epistle, goes far toward confirming what 
appears in itself wholly natural. And to this fact may be added 
the distinctly Petrine tone of the sermon — its boldness, aggressive- 
ness, and loyalty to Jesus. What some of the onlookers ascribed to 
drunkenness he declared was the fulfilment of a sublime prophecy. 
He did not hesitate to charge his hearers once and again with the cru- 
cifixion of Jesus. And he emphasized both the greatness of Jesus 
as seen in his earthly life and his present exaltation and power. 

The first sermon of the apostolic age strikes the keynote of all 
its preaching, viz., that Jesus is Christ and Lord. What Peter and 
the others had said in the house where they became conscious in 
some new sense of the presence of the spirit of God, we do not know, 
but when he faced the throng outside, he gave a plain, straight 
testimony regarding Jesus. He bore this testimony with an inspiring 
sense that the "last days" had come, i. e., the time of the fulfilment 
of the purposes of God, the time immediately preceding the second 
coming of Christ and the restoration of all things (see Matt. 19:28; 
Jas. 5:3). This period was now inaugurated by the outpouring of 
the Spirit of God on the whole company of believers. 

The testimony of Peter culminated in the assertion of the messiah- 
ship of Jesus, and included three main points: (1) Jesus in his early 
life had been manifestly approved of God, i. e., approved as the 
Messiah; (2) God had raised him from the dead, which event the 
Scriptures had before announced; and (3) the Spirit which filled 
the disciples had come through him. The first two points fell within 
the personal observation of Peter; the last was, of course, a matter 
of Christian faith. Peter and the other disciples were conscious of 
the presence of the Spirit; but that it was Jesus who had given 
the Spirit was not based on direct personal knowledge, though, ac- 
cording to Luke (24:49), Jesus had spoken a word that justified the 
conclusion of Peter. 

From the standpoint of the hearers probably nothing in Peter's 
argument was more impressive than the simple spectacle of Peter 
himself and the other disciples, who said that the Spirit of God had 
come upon them. Their appearance and Peter's living words were 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST 25 

an evidence of the resurrection of Jesus, and also of a new wondrous 
spiritual power. 

It is worthy of notice that Peter mentioned the mighty works of 
Jesus as the great evidence of God's approval of him (Acts 2:22). 
These works that struck the senses were to him a clearer proof of the 
messiahship of Jesus than was his teaching. It seems obvious, how- 
ever, that as the church becomes more mature, this order is inverted, 
and the highest evidence of the messiahship of Jesus is seen in his 
teaching, especially in his revelation of God. 

§ 19. The Conversion of Three Thousand. — Peter's sermon had 
an immediate and deep result. Many of his hearers were conscience- 
smitten and grieved at the fate of Jesus, and more than this, they 
were convinced of the truth of Peter's claim. It is not possible to 
say just what in his sermon wrought so powerfully upon them. They 
themselves may not have been able to say, and different ones would 
probably have given differing answers. Peter's appeal to the facts 
of the life of Jesus, his assertion that he and others were personal 
witnesses of the resurrection, and that the resurrection was in 
accord with Scripture, were elements adapted to convince the in- 
tellect of the hearers. But we can not hold that these arguments, 
however forcible, were the ultimate power involved in producing 
the result. The analogy of other great religious movements suggests 
that, after all, the decisive factor was something intangible, spiritual, 
mysterious, in short, the presence and the power of God. 

The personal and practical counsel of Peter is no less remarkable 
than his demonstration of the messiahship of Jesus. He describes 
the way of salvation in the simplest terms. It is repentance for sin 
and baptism in the name of Jesus, this baptism resting on the belief 
that Jesus is the Christ. It is to be noticed that Peter speaks of 
baptism into the name of Jesus Christ, not, as in Matt. 28:19, into 
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 
Baptism into the name of Jesus is the only form mentioned in the 
book of Acts and the New Testament epistles. 

In connection with the number of conversions, which Luke puts 
approximately at 3,000, it is to be remembered that according to 
vss. 5-1 1 the Jews from abroad were largely represented at Pente- 
cost, and there is reason to believe that they were more open to the 



26 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

appeal of the gospel than were the Jews of the homeland. An illus- 
tration of this may be seen in the fact that, while we know definitely 1 
of but one Jewish- Christian community in Palestine in the apostolic 
age, viz., that in Jerusalem, we find evidence of an influential Jewish 
element in most of the great churches abroad, as in those of Antioch 
in Syria, Ephesus, Corinth, and Rome. 

§ 20. The Disciples in Peace and Favor. — Between the day of 
Pentecost and the healing of the lame man at the door of the temple 
lay a period of uncertain length. The life of the disciples during 
this time is broadly sketched by Luke in a half-dozen verses that are 
surcharged with interest. His account breathes the spirit of the 
gospel. 

As was natural, the men who had known Jesus were the first teachers 
of the little community, and the picture of Luke suggests some of their 
teachings. Thus, in characterizing the disciples as those who 
"believed," i. e., believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the narrative 
doubtless intimates what was central in the apostles' teaching. To 
accept this one article of faith and to hold it in love was to be " saved" 
(vs. 47). The account also gives prominence to the fellowship of 
those who had come to believe in Jesus, and this feature of their life, 
reflecting a fundamental element of the gospel, may be taken as sug- 
gesting another subject of apostolic teaching in those days. The 
spirit of this fellowship is seen in the rare generosity with which the 
disciples used their possessions for one another's need. The dis- 
tinction between mine and thine was lost in an overflowing love. 

How far this fellowship led the disciples to live together and to eat together, 
to be a community wholly by themselves, after the fashion of the Essenes, it is 
not possible to say. If the "breaking of bread" refers to a common meal to- 
gether, as some scholars have held, it obviously suggests that the other daily 
meals were not taken in common, but this understanding of the phrase is extremely 
doubtful. We are rather to take it as referring to the memorial supper. For 
(1) the breaking of bread is mentioned in the midst of spiritual features — prayer, 
Christian fellowship, and "apostles' teaching" — which leads us to think that it 
stands for something more than a meal for the satisfaction of hunger; and (2) 
Luke elsewhere once uses the same expression, where it plainly has a religious 
significance (Luke 24:35), and also employs very similar language which it is 
impossible to refer simply to a common meal (Acts 20:7, 11). Further, it is 

1 Paul refers in a general way to "churches" of Judea, Gal. 1:22; 1 Thess. 2:14. 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST 27 

to be noted that Paul, of whom Luke was a disciple, gives prominence to the 
breaking of the bread in the Lord's Supper (1 Cor. 10:16; 11:24). It seems, 
therefore, most probable that the phrase designates the memorial supper. This 
explanation suits vs. 46, where " breaking bread at home" is parallel to " con- 
tinuing in the temple;" but continuing in the temple was, of course, for worship, 
and hence the breaking of bread is naturally understood of a religious act. It 
will be observed that this breaking of bread was "day by day," which suggests 
that the supper was relatively more conspicuous than it is now; and it will also 
be noticed that it was a home observance. The language allows us to think 
that it was even a family celebration, but the impulse to fellowship, which was 
so prominent a feature, makes it more likely that companies larger than a single 
family usually kept it together. 

This observance, then, was a subject on which of necessity the new converts 
must receive instruction from the apostles. Another subject may have been 
that of prayer. As praying had characterized the disciples before the day of 
Pentecost (cf. Acts 1 : 14, 24), so it continued to characterize the larger fellowship 
in the days immediately succeeding. And the reference here (vs. 42) is probably 
not to participation in the temple service, but to a distinctive Christian feature 
of the life of the disciples. 

§21. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (i) When did the 
feast of Pentecost occur ? (2) What are the essential facts in the story 
of the great day of Pentecost as told in Acts, chap. 2 ? (3) What 
historical evidence have we that something extraordinary took place 
among the disciples on that day? (4) What promise was fulfilled 
by the "coming of the spirit"? What are the miraculous details 
in Luke's narrative of Pentecost, Acts 2:1-6? (5) How did the 
speaking with "other tongues," as described in Acts, differ from the 
speaking "with tongues," as spoken of by Paul in 1 Cor. ? (6) What 
was the effect of speaking with other tongues on Pentecost ? (7) By 
what were the people converted ? (8) Are we to suppose that the 
disciples were given power to speak foreign languages on the day of 
Pentecost as a sign that the gospel was for all mankind ? (9) What 
is the most probable explanation of the origin of this narrative ? 
(10) How is its value for us affected if we regard the underlying event 
as nothing else than ecstatic speech ? 

(11) What reasons are there for thinking that we have in Acts 2 
the substance of Peter's sermon? (12) What is the keynote of 
the sermon? (13) Mention three main points. (14) What prophecy 
did Peter see fulfilled in the experience of the disciples on the day of 



28 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

Pentecost? (15) In what did Peter see the chief evidence of God's 
approval of Jesus ? (16) On what element do we lay greater stress 
at the present time ? 

(17) What was the immediate effect of Peter's sermon? (18) 
What was the decisive factor in producing that effect ? (19) How 
did Peter define the way of salvation ? (20) Into what name did he 
baptize ? (21) What helps to account for the large number of con- 
verts on the day of Pentecost ? (22) What were some of the subjects 
of apostolic teaching ? (23) In what way was the spirit of fellow- 
ship manifested? (24) What did Luke mean by the "breaking of 
bread"? (25) What noticeable features of the early observance of 
the Lord's Supper does this passage suggest ? 

§ 22. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Litera- 
ture. 

1. Write a chapter on the day of Pentecost making special study 
of Peter's sermon and of the facts regarding Christ on which the 
early church laid special emphasis. 

2. What was Paul's estimate of speaking with tongues? 

3. Where do we meet with this phenomenon in the New Testa- 
ment church? 

4. What two words constituted the essential creed of the apostolic 
age? 

5. What distinguished Jewish- Christians of the apostolic age 
belonged to the Dispersion ? 

6. The Jews of the Dispersion: the countries through which 
they were scattered; their number and standing; the influence 
exerted by them on the Greeks and Romans and by the latter on 
them. 



CHAPTER III 

THE GROWTH OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM 

SYNOPSIS 

§23. A lame man healed by Peter. Acts 3:1-10 

§ 24. Peter's address in Solomon's porch. Acts 3:11-26 

§ 25. The first attempt to suppress the new movement. Acts 4:1-31 

§ 26. The union and communion of believers. Acts 4:32-36 

§ 27. Ananias and Sapphira. Acts 5:1-11 

§ 28. Signs and wonders wrought by the apostles. Acts 5:12-16 

§ 29. The second attempt to suppress the new movement. Acts 5:17-42 

§ 23. A Lame Man Healed by Peter. — The "many wonders and 
and signs done through the apostles," to which Luke referred at the 
close of the last chapter, are represented by a single case, which may 
have been remembered because of its important consequences. This 
is the first recorded sign wrought by an apostle and the only one 
ascribed to the earliest period of which any particulars are given. 

According to the gospels, miracles of healing were wrought by the apostles 
during the life of Jesus, bat no details of such miracles have been preserved. 
In the apostolic age, even at the first, miracles of healing are far less conspicuous 
than in the gospels. The book of Acts mentions but three signs done by any of the 
twelve apostles, and these were all wrought by Peter. It is doubtful, therefore, 
whether many specific instances had been preserved to the time when Acts was 
composed. 

It is on the occasion of this first recorded sign in Acts that a second 
apostle comes forth into a certain prominence by the side of Peter, 
viz., the apostle John. He continues to be associated with Peter 
until the conversion of Samaria (Acts 8:14), after which time Peter 
appears alone. No other of the twelve is mentioned by name in 
Acts after the first chapter except James (Acts 12:2). 

The story of the healing of the lame man is of importance in itself 
because it indicates how the apostles wrought their signs. We do 
not know what words, if any, they had spoken in connection with 
healing when sent out two by two in Galilee ; but now when Peter 
looks on the lame man and bids him walk, it is "in the name of Jesus 
Christ." That name is in some way the secret of his cure. Jewish 

29 



30 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

exorcists used various names, sometimes even that of Jesus (Acts 
19:13). Peter also used the name of Jesus, but used it in faith. He 
declares explicitly that the healing was due to faith. That which he 
"has" and which he can give to the lame man (vs. 6) is the benefit of 
his own strong faith in the name of Jesus, i. e., in Jesus himself. Yet 
he does not regard this faith as the final explanation of the healing. 
He traces the miracle to the power of the covenant God of Israel, 
and evidently regards his faith in Jesus as the human means by 
which that power had been appropriated. 

§24. Peter's Address in Solomon's Porch. — The first recorded 
Christian sermon was in or near a private house (Acts 2:2, 6, 11); 
the second, which We are now considering, was within the precincts 
of the temple (Acts 3:11), viz., in the eastern colonnade. The heal- 
ing also had been on this side of the outer court, and the location both 
of the healing and the subsequent address led easily to a conflict with 
the temple authorities. 

Peter made four statements that must have been particularly 
obnoxious: (1) He charged that his hearers and the rulers, in con- 
demning Jesus, had been guilty of an especially flagrant violation of 
law, for they had overridden the judgment of Pilate who was deter- 
mined to release Jesus. They had also asked the life of one who 
was known to be a murderer, thus aggravating their sin. (2) Peter 
asserted the resurrection of Jesus, claiming that he and others had 
been personal witnesses thereof. (3) He claimed that the name of 
this crucified Jesus had made this lame man strong. And (4) he 
declared that Jesus, who was the Christ and the "Servant" of 
Old Testament prophecy, would come again from heaven. His 
arraignment of the Jews on account of the death of Jesus, although 
somewhat softened by the thought that they had acted in ignorance, 
was more severe than that of his first sermon (Acts 2 : 23), and his 
exaltation of Jesus was more varied and emphatic. 

Thus the character of Peter's address was obviously such as to 
arouse the opposition of the rulers, while at the same time its bold 
and aggressive tone was fitted to awaken the interest of the multitude 
and to draw them to him. The stress which he laid on the future 
appearing of Jesus not only helped to offset the humiliation of the 
cross in the minds of the hearers, but also served to kindle their hope. 



GROWTH OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM 3 1 

§ 25. The First Attempt to Suppress the New Movement. — Wc 
have seen that Peter's address was fitted to make a deep impression 
and when, therefore, we are told that the number of believers came 
to be about 5,oco men (Acts 4:4), we are prepared to see in this an 
approximate estimate of the sudden increase. 

We need not suppose that anyone counted the new converts that 
night after Peter had finished speaking, or that the converts all 
declared themselves at once ; but we may hold as historical that the 
words and deed of Peter bore abundant fruit in the immediate future. 

It is not surprising that the apostles were interrupted by the temple 
authorities, and were put in ward. Nothing less could have been ex- 
pected, for though they were still pious Jews, they were Jews who 
saw the fulfilment of Judaism in Jesus whom the rulers had put to 
death as a false Messiah. The imprisonment of the apostles was 
only until the next day, when a formal trial could be held. They 
were locked up merely for safe keeping, lest they should escape, or 
their friends should combine and make their arrest difficult. In 
the procedure against them the Sadducees appear to have been prom- 
inent, their opposition, according to Luke, being due to the fact that 
the apostles proclaimed the resurrection of the dead, a doctrine which 
they rejected (Matt. 22:23). 

The seriousness of the situation which the deed and words of 
Peter had created is reflected in the fact that at the hearing of the 
apostles, the highpriestly family was fully represented (vs. 6). Annas 
and Caiaphas were present — the former being called the highpriest 
because he had previously held the office, though it was now held by 
his son-in-law, Caiaphas. John and Alexander never filled the high- 
priest's office. 

The apostles were twice brought before the council. At their 
first appearing they were asked to account for the healing of the lame 
man, and Peter made answer, with a boldness and ability which 
amazed them, that the man had been healed in the name of Jesus, 
the only name, he added, in which there is messianic deliverance. 
At the second appearing of the apostles, they were strictly commanded 
not to teach at all in the name of Jesus, and when they declared that 
they must continue to teach what they had seen and heard, they were 
threatened and dismissed. 



32 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

The rulers were perplexed. They saw in these men the same 
spirit which they had seen in Jesus, and the deed of healing was one 
which could not be denied. These things were freely admitted in 
their council, as also their fear that this new teaching would spread 
further among the people. But the most that they dared to do was 
to threaten the apostles — an evidence that the popular sentiment 
was strongly with the Christian movement. 

The failure of the attempt to silence Peter and John, when reported 
to the remaining apostles or to these in company with other believers, 
made a deep impression. With one accord they turned to God in a 
prayer which was marked by an increase of holy boldness. It was 
plain to all that the recent opposition to Jesus and the present opposi- 
tion to his disciples was a fulfilment of the second Psalm, and there- 
fore part of a divine plan. The threatenings of their enemies could 
not avail against him who made the heaven and the earth and the 
sea. The narrative closes with the significant statement that all 
the company showed that boldness which they had sought from God 
in prayer, which is a proof that they were filled with the Spirit. The 
shaking of the earth, which is said to have accompanied their inner 
experience, may be regarded in the same way as the " sound" that 
filled the house on the day of Pentecost. 

§ 26. The Union and Communion of Believers. — As the first 
critical event in the relation of believers to the world, viz., the event of 
Pentecost, is followed in the narrative by a reference to the remark- 
able condition of believers in their relation to each other, so also 
is the second critical event. The picture of the inner condition is 
now drawn with somewhat more of detail and with greater vividness, 
but its essential thought remains the same. The entire company of 
believers were still animated with such a spirit of brotherhood that 
they had all things in common. The poor were not suffered to feel 
any lack. Apparently there were not a few who needed help, for 
houses and lands were sold from time to time that distribution might 
be made. This readiness to share with the brother in need was rightly 
regarded as evidence that the favor of God was signally bestowed on 
the community. There were, indeed, some among them who did 
not possess this spirit (e. g., Acts 5:1-11), and some, probably the 
majority of those who did possess it, did not dispose of all their prop- 



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34 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

erty. What Barnabas sold was a field; presumably he did not sell 
his house. And we learn incidentally that Mary, the mother of 
John Mark, did not sell her house (Acts 12:12). The language of 
Luke in vs. 34 is general and there is no reason to suppose that be- 
lievers, at least as a rule, sold the houses in which they lived. They 
were possessed by the spirit of love, but not by the spirit of unreason. 

§ 27. Ananias and Sapphira. — The story of Ananias and Sap- 
phira is introduced not as an exception to the general rule in Acts 
4:34, and not for the sake of the contrast it presents to the case of 
Barnabas, but because of its effect (Acts 5:11). The incident, while 
showing, indeed, that the fair picture of the preceding verse was not 
without dark shadows, contributed in its way to the prestige of the 
apostles, to a wholesome sense of the seriousness of membership in 
the new community, and so to the growth of the Christian body. 

The sin of Ananias and his wife was hypocrisy, that sin against 
which Jesus had spoken oftener than against any other. They 
wished the honor of complete devotion to the brotherhood without 
paying the full price. They agreed to deceive Peter and the rest 
in regard to the sum of money which their land had brought. It is 
plain, therefore, that they, like Simon of Samaria (Acts 8:9), had 
only the most superficial apprehension of the character of the gospel. 
They had simply been taken in its net, which then, as in all subse- 
quent times, gathered bad fish with the good. 

The relation of Peter to the case of Ananias and Sapphira appears to be 
plain. We are not told how he knew that Ananias was lying. We should 
assume, therefore, that he read it on his face and in his manner. When he 
exposed the man's inner thought and purpose, declaring that his attempt to 
deceive was an attempt to deceive God rather than men, Ananias fell down 
dead. It is to be noticed that Peter spoke no word of judgment. He only 
uncovered the sin. We have no reason to think that he had any idea that death 
was about to fall on the man before him. 

But when, three hours later, Peter heard from Sapphira the same lie which 
her husband had acted, it was natural that he anticipated for her the same fate 
which had befallen him. He did not assume to pass sentence of death in her 
case any more than in that of her husband. Though his declaration to her may 
have so affected her mind as to have contributed to cause her death, it was evi- 
dently not uttered with this intent. Rather is his confidence that she would 
straightway fall a prey to death evidence that he regarded the death of Ananias 
as a supernatural judgment. So also was it probably regarded by Luke. But 



GROWTH OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM 35 

whether this explanation of the event is the correct one is a fair question to raise. 
We have no right to assume that the cause of death was supernatural if it can 
be accounted for on natural grounds. A death is plainly not supernatural merely 
because it is sudden and seemingly opportune. Many a man has dropped 
dead in circumstances apparently less awful for heart and conscience than were 
those which suddenly confronted Ananias. The improbability that his wife 
would succumb just as he had is doubtless very great, but obviously it can not 
be said to be impossible that one explanation should cover both cases. 

It need scarcely be pointed out that the view of the death of Ananias as a 
supernatural divine judgment accords neither with the method of Jesus in dealing 
with the sin of hypocrisy nor with the character of God as revealed in Jesus. 

§ 28. Signs and Wonders Wrought by the Apostles. — To the 

growth of the church, according to Acts, the mighty works of the 
apostles contributed in a conspicuous manner, although, as already 
pointed out, the author specifies only three miracles as wrought 
by the original apostles. For some time after the arraignment of 
Peter and John, the apostles and other believers were allowed to meet 
in Solomon's porch, where we may suppose that they bore their power- 
ful witness of the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 4:33), and where, it 
may be, some of the signs mentioned in Acts 5:12 were wrought. 1 
That their activity here must constantly have been hateful to the 
temple authorities is self-evident. It was tolerated for a time because 
of the extent of the popular favor. 

In this period of relative quiet considerable numbers of men and 
women were added to the Lord, i. e., by baptism into the name of 
Jesus, and Peter became more prominent than ever as a healer of 
disease. Enthusiasm for him ran so high that some people^ believed 
his shadow would effect cures — a superstitious veneration parallel to 
that of the woman who touched the garment of Jesus (Mark 5:28), 
and to that of the Ephesians who took aprons and handkerchiefs 
which had been in contact with the body of Paul and carried them to 
those who were sick (Acts 19: 12). It is to be remembered, however, 
in considering this incident, that even superstitious ideas may be the 
channels of divine blessing. Men may have been helped by the 
shadow of Peter as well as by the garment of Jesus. The mingling 
of superstition with faith does not destroy its value. 

1 The verbs in 5:1.2-16 are imperfects, descriptive of what took place through an 
indefinite period. 



36 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

§ 29. The Second Attempt to Suppress the New Movement. — 

The interval between the imprisonment of Peter and John and the 
imprisonment of all the apostles was probably short, for the apostles, 
by disregarding the threats of the temple authorities as well as by 
their increasing and successful activity, were daily becoming a more 
formidable power, and the instinct of self-preservation would not 
have allowed the rulers long to postpone their second attempt to 
check the dangerous movement. 

The attitude of the rulers had grown more determined, for they 
now believed that the aim of the apostles was to get revenge for the 
death of Jesus, and they saw that the new teaching had filled Jeru- 
salem (vs. 28). This more determined attitude is seen (1) in the 
fact that all the apostles were seized, and not merely Peter and John ; 
and (2), in the fact that they were beaten, and not simply threatened. 

The opposition now as in the earlier case was headed by the Sad- 
ducees, while the man whose counsel prevailed, and who, humanly 
speaking, saved the lives of the apostles, was a Pharisee (vs. 34). The 
apostles were put in prison over night, but when wanted the next 
morning they were found not in the prison, but in the temple. Of 
the circumstances of their deliverance we have no certain informa- 
tion. Luke appears to have regarded it as miraculous, ascribing it 
to an angel of the Lord. It is not clear, however, why they should 
have been delivered by a miracle only to be rearrested at daybreak. 

The apostles when brought before the council were charged with 
complete disregard of the commandment which had been laid upon 
them (Acts 4:18), and frankly admitted that the charge was true. 
At the same time they claimed to have obeyed God. They might 
have stopped at this point, but they regarded the occasion as an 
opportunity to bear witness of the resurrection which they could not 
let pass. 

The result of Peter's words — for he spoke for the apostles — was 
that the rulers were inflamed with rage, and would have proceeded 
to extreme measures had not Gamaliel intervened. The weight of 
his influence checked the purpose to slay the apostles, and they 
escaped with merely a beating. 

Gamaliel thought it possible that God was in this religious move- 
ment, and therefore favored a policy of non-intervention. If, how- 



GROWTH OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM 37 

ever, God was not in it, then, he argued, it would come to naught of 
itself, as their own history taught. 1 The counsel of Gamaliel was 
accepted, though in a somewhat modified form, for the beating of 
the apostles was inconsistent with the spirit of that counsel. Thus 
the second attempt of the authorities to suppress the new movement 
failed, and even the temple itself was not closed to the preaching of 
the apostles. 

§30. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (i) What was the 
first sign wrought by an apostle of which we have any details ? (2) 
To what may we attribute the preservation of this story ? (3) How 
many signs by the twelve apostles are recorded in Acts ? (4) 
What apostle appears with Peter in connection with this first sign, 
and when does he disappear from the story ? (5) Wherein does the 
importance of the story chiefly lie ? (6) How did Peter use the 
name of Jesus ? (7) To what power did he ascribe the healing ? (8) 
What part did his faith in Jesus have in the deed ? 

(9) Locate the place of delivery of Peter's first and second ser- 
mons. (10) Name four statements in his second sermon that must 
have been obnoxious to the rulers. (11) What was the tone of Peter's 
address? (12) What was its effect on the multitude? 

(13) What sect was prominent in the first attempt to suppress 
the apostles ? (14) Name four leading members of the Sanhedrim 
(15) Describe what took place at each of the two appearances of the 
apostles before the rulers. (16) Why were the rulers perplexed by 
the situation? (17) What effect did the apostles' report of their trial 
have on the company of believers ? 

(18) What was the internal condition of believers in the days sub- 
sequent to the imprisonment of Feter and John? (19) How is the 

1 According to Luke's report, Gamaliel cited two instances in support of his 
position, that of Theudas and that of Judas of Galilee. He placed Theudas first in 
time. Now Judas of Galilee, or of Gaulonitis (cf. Josephus, Antiq., 18. i . i), perished 
because of his opposition to the census of the year 7 A. D., and we have no knowledge 
of a revolutionist by the name of Theudas who lived before this. Josephus tells of a 
Theudas who lived in the procuratorship of Cuspius Fadus, which began in 44 A. D., 
and what he says of him agrees with the statement in Acts (cf. Antiq., 20.5.1). We 
are then obliged to assume that there were two men by the name of Theudas who 
played the same role and met the same fate, or, what is more probable, that the incident 
of Acts 5:36 is an addition to the speech of Gamaliel. 



38 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

statement to be understood that so many as had houses or lands sold 
them? (20) For what purpose was the story of Ananias and Sap- 
phira introduced? (21) What was their sin? (22) How did Peter 
probably detect this ? (23) How did his relation to Sapphira differ 
from his relation to Ananias ? (24) How did he regard the fate of 
Ananias and Sapphira? (25) What are some of the reasons for 
accepting another explanation? 

(26) To what extreme did enthusiasm for Peter run? (27) How 
were those on whom his shadow fell healed ? (28) How long an in- 
terval separated the first and second imprisonment of the apostles ? 
(29) What was the attitude of the rulers at the time of the second 
imprisonment? (30) Who still led the opposition? (31) What 
charge was brought against the apostles, and how did they meet it ? 
(32) What effect did Peter's words have on the rulers? (33) What 
was the argument of Gamaliel ? (34) What was the outcome of the 
second attempt to suppress the gospel ? 

§ 31. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Litera- 
ture. 

1. Write a chapter on the growth of the church in Jerusalem, using, 
perhaps, the following outline: 

a) Peter's success in preaching and healing. 

b) The fellowship of the church. 

c) The attempt to suppress the new movement. 

2. What does Josephus say about the Pharisees (Antiq., 18. 1.3)? 

3. What does he say about the Sadducees (Antiq., 18. 1. 4) ? 

4. Where in iVcts is the word "church" first used, and what does 
it mean ? 

5. What does Josephus say about the Zealots (Antiq., 18. 1.6)? 

6. For list of the highpriests see: 

Schiirer, The Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Div. 2, Vol. I, 
p. 197-200. 

7. On the relation of the "Senate of the Children of Israel" to 
the Sanhedrin see : 

Schiirer. op. cit., Div. 1, Vol. II, p. 167. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE APPOINTMENT OF THE SEVEN AND THE MARTYRDOM OF 

STEPHEN 

§ 32. The appointment of the Seven. Acts 6:1-7 

§ 33. The martyrdom of Stephen. Acts 6:8— 8: 1a 

§32. The Appointment of the Seven. — The narrative of the 
appointment of seven 1 men to have charge of the charities of the 
church, while serving as an introduction to the story of the first 
Christian martyr, has a value of its own. Thus, in the first place, it 
shows that the new spirit of brotherhood was not yet strong enough 
to obliterate the old prejudice of the Hebrews against the Grecian 
Jews. Those designated "Hebrews" were residents of Palestine, 
and hence spoke the Aramaic language, while the "Hellenists" were 
Jews from abroad who spoke Greek and who in greater or lesser de- 
gree had been affected by Greek civilization. Natives of the Holy 
Land, who had not come into any close contact with the gentiles, 
naturally looked askance at their brethren from abroad who in vari- 
ous particulars bore the stamp of a non- Jewish nationality. This 
prejudice showed itself within the church. Those who had in hand 
the distribution of food or money discriminated against the Hellenists 
— a procedure which may have been rendered relatively easy by the 
meagerness of the funds at their disposal. Because of this discrim- 
ination the Hellenists made complaint on behalf of those of their 
number who needed aid but did not receive it. 

Again, this narrative has a value of its own, inasmuch as it shows 
that in the settlement of the first trouble in the apostolic church, a 
democratic spirit prevailed. The multitude were called together, 
the multitude approved the suggestion of the apostles, and the multi- 
tude chose the men who should henceforth have the care of the 

1 The work for which the Seven were appointed corresponded to that which 
was assigned at a later day to those who were called "deacons." Nevertheless, Luke 
does not give them this name, and there is no indication in the New Testament that 
they were a permanent part of the organization of the church in Jerusalem. Uhlhorn, 
Christian Charity in the Ancient Church, 1883, supposes that they developed into 
elders as the apostles withdrew from Jerusalem. 

39 



40 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

poorer brethren. The apostles, as the oldest in Christian experi- 
ence and as those who, in their acquaintance with Jesus, had enjoyed 
special opportunity of knowing his mind, had a moral right and duty 
to tell what sort of men should be selected (vs. 3), and after the choice 
had been made, to consecrate the men unto their work by a religious 
service (vs. 6). They did not themselves choose the seven men on 
the ground of their apostolic dignity, nor did they reject any of those 
whom the multitude had named. They assumed that the whole 
body of believers was qualified to judge whether a man was full of the 
Spirit and of wisdom. They did not question the choice of the multi- 
tude: they simply approved it. 

The act of laying hands on the men who had been chosen was an 
ancient Jewish custom (e. g., Deut. 34:9), common also in the vari- 
ous ordinations in the synagogue. It was symbolic of the bestowal 
of blessing, either physical or spiritual (Mark 7:32; Matt. 19:13). 

It is significant that the names of the seven men are all Greek. 
It does not follow, of course, that all the men were Hellenists, for 
Palestinian Jews, as in the case of the apostles Andrew and Philip, 
sometimes had Greek names; but the fact that all seven names are 
Greek favors the view that the Hellenists were largely represented 
on the board of charities. The appointment of Nicolas, who was 
not only a Hellenist, but also a proselyte, indicates that, the pre- 
judice of the Palestinian Jews was not shared by the multitude; in 
other words, when taken together with the fact that the seven names 
are all Greek, it may suggest that the believers at this time were 
largely Hellenists. 

The rapid increase of the church in the days when the board of 
charities was established seems to have been regarded by Luke as 
connected with that fact. And the appointment of the Seven may, 
indeed, have helped in two ways: (1) The apostles were thereby re- 
leased from all care of the poor, and were able to give themselves wholly 
to prayer and the word, and (2) the spiritual power of the brotherhood 
of believers as a whole may well have been increased by the removal 
of that which had been a source of hard feeling. Thus by the failure 
of the rulers to check the new movement and by the better adminis- 
tration of the internal affairs of the church, the way was prepared 
for a triumph of Christian testimony even among the priests (Acts 6 : 7). 



APPOINTMENT OF THE SEVEN 41 

J 33. The Martyrdom of Stephen. — The dramatic story of 
Stephen, in the course of which we are introduced to Saul of Tarsus, 
falls into three parts: (a) his arrest (6:8-15); (b) his defense (7: 1-53); 
and (c) his death (7:54 — 8:1a). 

a) The arrest 0) Stephen. — Stephen was chosen to "serve tables," 
but he soon proved himself a veritable apostle. The language em- 
ployed to describe his deeds is stronger than that with which Luke 
refers to the deeds of the Twelve. He was a man of power, not merely 
of power to work wonders and signs, but of intellectual power to pre- 
sent and defend the gospel, and of spiritual insight into the essential 
nature of the new doctrine of Christ; a man who also possessed the 
power that comes from sublime courage. His career soon aroused 
a more bitter opposition than had been provoked by Peter. 

The opposition to Stephen came from the Hellenists, particularly 
from members of five 1 synagogues. First of these was the synagogue 
of the Libertines, that is, probably, of Jews who had once been Ro- 
man slaves or of the descendants of such. Cyrene, half-way between 
Carthage and Alexandria on the north coast of Africa and directly 
south of Greece, was the home of those Jews who formed the second 
synagogue. The third was composed cf Jews from Alexandria, the 
fourth of Jews from Cilicia, Saul's native province, and the fifth, of 
Jews from the province of Asia, whose capital was Ephesus. The 
fact that so many Hellenistic synagogues were involved in the oppo- 
sition to Stephen testifies to the extent of his influence. We may 
suppose that he had visited these synagogues and borne his testi- 
mony in them. 

The ground of the opposition can not be definitely made out. 
The witnesses whose testimony is introduced by Luke are said to 
have been false, and yet we may probably infer from their words the 
general character of Stephen's offensive utterances. It is not unlikely 
that, influenced by the words of Jesus, he spoke of the destruction 
of the temple, though he can scarcely have declared that this would 
be directly by Jesus, i. e., at his second advent. Then, remembering 
how Jesus had laid stress on the inward rather than the outward, 
and remembering also his words about the fulfilment of the law, 

1 The view that this passage refers to five synagogues, though not necessarily 
required by the Greek, appears on the whole preferable. 



42 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

Stephen may well have said that the customs of Moses were not 
essential to salvation. 

The appearance of Stephen when brought before the Sanhedrin 
on the charge of blasphemy was, according to the language of Luke, 
something extraordinary, but not necessarily supernatural. We may 
believe that his face was strikingly transfigured by the confidence 
he had in Jesus and by the conviction that what he had said was true. 

b) The defense of Stephen. — The longest speech which has been 
preserved from the apostolic age is also in respect to its content one 
of the most remarkable. 

Its relation to the Old Testament in particular, is worthy of notice, for it 
diverges at many points and widely. This divergence is the more worthy of 
notice because of its bearing on the genuineness of the speech. The more impor- 
tant instances are as follows: (i) Stephen speaks of an appearance of God to 
Abraham while he yet dwelt in Mesopotamia, before he migrated to Haran. 
The Old Testament knows nothing of this. The first divine commandment to 
Abraham is that which was given in Haran (Gen. 12: i). (2) Words that accord- 
ing to Ex. 3:12 were spoken to Moses are introduced by Stephen as spoken to 
Abraham. (3) Stephen gives the number of people who went down into Egypt 
as seventy -five, in this point agreeing with the Greek translation of the Old Testa- 
ment, but differing from the Hebrew Old Testament, where the number is 
always seventy (Gen. 46:27; Ex. 1:5; Deut. 10:22). (4) Stephen confounds 
Abraham's purchase of a field from Ephron, the Hittite, in Machpelah near 
Mamre, with Jacob's purchase of a parcel of ground from the sons of Hamor 
in Shechem (Gen. 23; 33:19-20; 50:13). (5) The Old Testament says that 
Moses was eighty years old when he stood before Pharaoh (Ex. 7:7), and also 
says that he was "grown up" at the time when he slew the Egyptian and fled 
into Midian (Ex. 2:11); but it is Stephen who divides the eighty years into two 
equal parts. (6) The view that the angel who appeared to Moses in the bush 
was also with him in Egypt (Acts 7:35), the statement that an angel spoke to 
Moses on Mount Sinai (Acts 7:38), and also the statement that the law was 
ordained by angels (Acts 7:53), are all peculiar to Stephen. They are not found 
in the Old Testament. (7) The Old Testament makes no reference to the worship 
of Moloch or of Rephan by Israel in the wilderness. Stephen gets these names 
from the Greek translation of the Old Testament as does he also the name Baby- 
lon, where Amos 5:27 has Damascus. 

Now these points of divergence from the Old Testament favor the genuine- 
ness of the speech, for they are more readily understood as occurring in an extem- 
pore address of a Jew accustomed to the Septuagint, the Greek translation of 
the Old Testament, and acquainted with Jewish tradition, than as part of an 
imaginary reproduction of Stephen's speech made by Luke who was not a Jew. 



APPOINTMENT OF THE SEVEN 43 

Stephen's speech is called a defense. It was also an arraign- 
ment of his accusers, its central thought being that they were resisting 
the Holy Spirit as their fathers had done before them. 

Abraham, indeed, was spiritually minded, but the sons of Jacob 
withstood the Spirit of God, and yet more plainly did the Israel of 
Moses' day. They resisted him in Egypt and all through the jour- 
ney of the wilderness. Moreover, at a later day, in thinking of God 
as an earthly king, one who dwells in temples made with hands, they 
resisted the Spirit that spoke through the prophets (e. g., Is. 66: 1-2). 

This speech furnishes no ground for the charge of blasphemy 
against Moses (Acts 6:11), or that Stephen had spoken against the 
temple. And yet, since it exalts the spiritual above the material, 
after the manner of the prophets, it shows clearly enough that Stephen 
may have made statements regarding Moses and the temple which 
to the legal ritualistic Jews would have seemed blasphemous. 

c) The death oj Stephen. — It appears obvious that Stephen did 
not finish his speech. As a Christian full of the Spirit and of 
wisdom he had more to say about Jesus than that he had been, 
betrayed and murdered by the rulers. He had a positive message 
as well, of which we have a hint in the exclamation that came from 
his lips when it was apparent that his auditors, instead of listening 
longer to his words, would put him to death (vs. 56). 

Now the rage of the rulers which broke in upon the speech of 
Stephen is to be attributed to his personal charges against them 
rather than to anything he had said about Moses (vs. 54). They 
are accused of resisting the Spirit and of murdering Jesus. For this 
they gnash upon him with their teeth; and when Stephen declares 
that he sees Jesus at the right hand of God, they stone him. He is 
sacrificed, therefore, not only because he holds heretical views re- 
garding Moses and the temple,, but especially because of the charge 
of dreadful guilt which he brings against his judges, and because of 
the vivid testimony he bears to the messiahship of that Jesus whom 
they had recently caused to be crucified. 

The death of Stephen was apparently accomplished not only 
without the sanction of the Roman governor, which the law required, 
but also without any formal sentence of the Sanhedrin. It was a 
passionate and lawless deed. That Stephen, rather than Peter, 



44 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

was the first Christian martyr was probably due to the temper and 
ability of the man, more than to the substance of his teaching. If 
he was also a Hellenist, his accusation of the Jerusalem authorities 
would have been especially offensive. 

§ 34. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) Define the 
meaning of " Hebrew" and "Hellenist." (2) What caused the 
Hellenists among the Christians to murmur ? (3) What spirit was 
manifested in the method of the appointment of the Seven? (4) 
What part did the apostles have in this appointment ? (5) What is 
suggested by the names of the Seven ? (6) In what ways may the 
appointment of the Seven have furthered the success of the gospel ? 

(7) Into what parts does the story of Stephen fall ? (8) Whence 
did the opposition to Stephen come? (9) Define the sources from 
which the members of the five synagogues of Acts 6:9 came. (10) 
What was the probable ground of the opposition to Stephen? (11) 
Name seven points in which* the speech of Stephen departs from the 
Hebrew Old Testament. (12) What bearing do these points have 
on the genuineness of the speech ? (13) What is the central thought 
of the address of Stephen ? (14) In what general manner does the 
speech lend support to the charges against Stephen? (15) What 
ground is there for thinking that Stephen was not allowed to finish 
his speech ? (16) What were the chief reasons why he was stoned ? 
(17) Wherein was his death illegal ? 

§ 35. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Litera- 
ture. 

1. Write a chapter on the appointment of the Seven, using, perhaps, 
the following outline: 

a) The need of such appointment. 

b) The apostles' action in the matter. 

c) The accusation against Stephen. 

2. On the "Dispersion" consult: 

Schiirer, History of the Jewish People, Vol. II, p. 31; Mathews, A History 
of New Testament Times in Palestine, pp. 157, 158, and Gilbert, Student's Life of 
Paul, pp. 3-8. 

3. On the Greek translation of the Old Testament read : 
E. Nestle in Hastings' Bible Dictionary, article on "Septuagint." 



PART II 

EXTENSION OF THE GOSPEL TO THE GENTILES, OCCA- 
SIONED BY PERSECUTION 



CHAPTER V 

THE WORK OF PHILIP THE EVANGELIST 

SYNOPSIS 

§ 36. The church in Jerusalem scattered by persecution. Acts 8:1-3 

§ 37. The work of Philip in the city of Samaria. Acts 8:4-25 

§ 38. Philip and the Ethiopian treasurer. Acts 8:26-40 

§ 36. The Church in Jerusalem Scattered by Persecution. — 

The period between Pentecost and the persecution which broke out 
with the death of Stephen may be roughly estimated at two years, 
that is, from 30 to 32 A. D., assuming that Pentecost was in the year 
30. Accordingly the movement of events in the first seven chapters 
of Acts must be thought of as rapid, a conclusion which, of course, 
suits the nature of those events. This time of relatively quiet de- 
velopment was due to the fact that the new movement was wholly 
loyal to the temple and to Jewish law. But when a man arose who 
not only saw the inner nature of this outgrowth from Judaism, but 
who also clearly declared it, the effect of his words was immediate 
and far-reaching. 

The first general persecution of the disciples of Jesus, though it 
originated with the Hellenists and though its leading spirit was sl 
Cilician Jew, was authorized by the rulers in Jerusalem (cf., e. g., 
Acts 9:2), and was doubtless heartily furthered by them. Once, at 
least, they had thirsted for the blood of the apostles (Acts 5 133), and 
later circumstances must have kept their spirit of opposition at the 
fever point (e. g., Acts 5 142 ; 6:7). The death of Stephen, although 
lamented by some of the Jews, was a welcome signal for a general 
crusade against the believers in Jesus — a crusade which, even had 
there been no Stephen, must soon have been set on foot. 

In this persecution men and women were committed to prison 
{Acts 8:3); they were beaten in the synagogues to the end that they 
might blaspheme the name of Jesus (Acts 26: 11), and some were put 
to death (Acts 26:10). Many fled for their lives, perhaps remem- 
bering the word of Jesus that when persecuted in one city they should 

47 



48 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

flee to the next (Matt. 10: 23). The statement that all were scattered 
abroad except the apostles is obviously general in its nature; even 
vs. 3 shows 'that many remained in Jerusalem, hoping to escape the 
storm by keeping quiet in their houses. Those who fled were in 
some cases followed by the persecutors to towns more or less distant 
from Jerusalem (Acts 26:11). 

§ 37. The Work of Philip in the City of Samaria.— The effort 
to stamp out the Christian movement resulted in its vigorous promo- 
tion. Many of those who fled from Jerusalem became, for a time 
at least, evangelists, and preached the word in Judea, Samaria, Phoe- 
nicia, Cyprus, and Antioch (Acts 8:1; 11:19). ^ i s probable that 
most of the fugitives lived outside of Jerusalem, and when the perse- 
cution broke out they simply started for their old homes. 

Philip, one of the Seven, afterward called an evangelist (Acts 21:8), 
whose home was in Caesarea (Acts 8:40; 21:8), was apparently on 
his way home when he preached in Samaria, for this city was on the 
main thoroughfare between Jerusalem and Caesarea. It was the 
chief city in Samaria, and from the time of Herod]the Great, to whom 
it had been given by Augustus, it bore the name " Sebaste," 1 in honor 
of the royal donor. It was some three hours' walk from Sebaste to 
the village of Sychar, where, according to John, Jesus had once 
stopped and had been welcomed by the Samaritans. Whether the 
ground had been prepared for Philip by this sojourn of Jesus we can 
not say. It certainly is not necessary to assume such a preparation 
in order to explain the evangelist's success, for he is represented as a 
man of power, like Stephen, both to preach (Acts 8:26-39) and to 
work signs (Acts 8:6-7). 

Among those whom Philip baptized was a man who had long been 
well known in Samaria, and who was destined to become widely 
known in the church, an adept in sorcery like that Bar- Jesus whom 
Paul encountered in Paphos (Acts 13:6). He was regarded as an 
incarnation of divine power, and, indeed, as the pre-eminent incar- 
nation. Therefore it was a notable triumph when Philip turned 
many away from Simon to Christ, and a triumph also, though less 
significant, when Simon himself submitted to baptism. 

Simon evidently regarded Philip as a brother sorcerer who had 

1 From the Greek word having the same meaning as'Augustus. 



50 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

some secrets which he himself did not possess. He therefore con- 
tinued with Philip in the hope of learning these secrets. He too 
would like to be able to cast out demons, to heal the palsied and lame, 
not thereby to extend the kingdom of Christ, of which he appears to 
have had no true conception, but solely to promote his own glory. His 
amazement at Philip's signs became greater when he saw the effects 
produced by the laying-on of the apostles' hands, of which effects 
one may have been the gift of ecstatic speech (Acts 19:6). 

As Simon himself had been baptized, and was to all outward 
appearances a true believer, there is no reason to think that the 
apostles passed by him when they laid their hands on the new con- 
verts. It is not to be supposed, however, that if they laid their hands 
upon him, he experienced any spiritual uplifting from the act, for 
he had no true faith in his heart. But his failure to experience any 
strange effect from the apostolic touch did not blind his eyes to the 
effects produced in others, and accordingly he made the apostles a 
cash offer for their powerful secret. He did not covet the Spirit for 
himself, but only the ability to confer it on others. It is therefore plain 
that, as Peter said, he had no part or lot in the gospel (vs. 21). He 
regarded it all as a superior kind of sorcery, and just for that reason 
he was intensely interested in it. As the curtain falls upon him, he 
is still Simon the sorcerer, for he is asking Peter to use his influence 
to protect him from any evil to which his temerity might have ex- 
posed him. 

It is to be remembered that this narrative was written a good many years 
after the events which are described. In that interval the name and importance 
of apostles had been magnified in the church. They were now thought of as an 
official body, without whose sanction the work of the new kingdom could not be 
consummated. Ideas current when Luke wrote are reflected to some extent in 
the story of a time before those ideas arose. Thus, at Pentecost, and again in 
the time of Paul's conversion, the gift of the Holy Spirit was plainly not thought 
of as dependent upon an act of the apostles (Acts 2 : 39; 9:17). 

§38. Philip and the Ethiopian Treasurer. — The essential part 
of this narrative is plainly the meeting of Philip with the Ethiopian. 
Just how this meeting was brought about, and where, are questions 
on which Luke does not enable us to arrive at definite conclusions. 
He appears to have regarded them as incidental. 



WORK OF PHILIP THE EVANGELIST 5 1 

A message of some sort reached Philip while in Samaria, calling 
him to go to a road that ran from Jerusalem to Gaza, and perhaps 
directing him to station himself at the ruins of old Gaza, a little north 
of the new town. Responding to this message 1 he met or overtook 
the Ethiopian on the road. 

This man, since he had come to Jerusalem to worship, must have 
been a proselyte, and the fact that he was meditating on Isa. 53 gives 
some color to the view that he had heard of Jesus while in Jerusalem, 
and was now searching the Scriptures with reference to the Messiah. 
While thus engaged, he drove near the spot where Philip was waiting; 
and he, recognizing that this was the opportunity for which he had 
journeyed from distant Samaria, ran to the chariot and entered into 
conversation with the man who was reading. The outcome was 
that the Ethiopian, at his own request, was baptized by the wayside. 
The men then parted, and Philip started again for Caesarea. In the 
towns through which he passed, as Jamnia and Joppa, he preached 
the gospel, just as before he had stopped to preach in Samaria. 

This story of Philip and the Ethiopian is valuable, not only for 
the light it throws on the methods of an early evangelist, but also, 
and especially, for its suggestion that the seed of the gospel was 
widely scattered, even from the first, by means of foreign Jews and 
proselytes who came to Jerusalem to worship. 

§ 39. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) About how 
long a time intervened between Pentecost and the first persecution 
of disciples ? What fact accounts for the relatively undisturbed 
development of this period? (2) With whom did the first general 
persecution of the disciples of Jesus originate, and what was the 
attitude of the rulers toward it ? (3) What was done with believers 
who were seized ? (4) How is the statement to be taken that all were 
scattered except the apostles? (5) How did the persecution pro- 

1 The meaning of the message is not wholly clear. Thus was Philip to go at 
noon, or go southward? Was it the road or Gaza itself that was "desert"? The 
obscurity that covers the messenger and attaches also to the message may have come 
from the fact that Philip's life would have been in danger if the persecutors in Jeru- 
salem had known his whereabouts. It is plain that whoever brought him the message 
knew of the movements of the Ethiopian treasurer, and considered Philip the best 
man to approach him with the offer of the gospel. 



52 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

mote the Christian movement ? (6) Who was Philip, and where was 
his home? (7) Where was the city of Samaria? (8) How near to 
it had Jesus labored? (9) What was Simon of Samaria, and how 
was he regarded by the people ? (10) How did Simon regard Philip ? 
(11) What did Simon think of the gift of the Spirit? 

(12) What is the essential fact in the narrative of Philip and the 
Ethiopian? (13) Whither was Philip called? (14) Who was the 
Ethiopian, and why was he in Jerusalem ? (15) What was he reading 
when he passed Philip ? (16) To whom does the prophet's language 
in this chapter refer? See Isa. 52:13. (17) Of whom did the early 
church find in this passage a description ? See vs. 35 and compare 
Acts 3:26. (18) What conception of the Messiah does this involve? 
(19) What was the outcome of Philip's teaching? (20) Mention 
other instances in which the gospel message was brought to a single 
person. (21) Whither did Philip go after his meeting with the 
Ethiopian ? Through what prominent towns did his road pass ? 

§ 40. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Litera- 
ture. 

" 1. Write a chapter on Philip, having an outline somewhat as 
follows: His home; his work in Jerusalem; his work in Samaria; 
his journey to Gaza to preach to a single soul; the character of his 
message to the Eunuch. 

2. Look up the references to the Samaritans in the gospels. 

3. How far were Phoenicia and Cyprus from Jerusalem, and 
what were their chief cities? 

4. On Simon as a false Messiah read: 
McGiffert, The Apostolic Age, pp. 90, 100. 

5. What was the capital of Ethiopia, and how far was it from 
Jerusalem ? 

6. Regarding proselytes consult: 

Schurer, The Jewish People in the Time of Christ, Div. 2, Vol. II, pp. 
291-327. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE LIFE OF PAUL BEFORE HIS CONVERSION 
SYNOPSIS 

§41. His family and political status. Acts 22:3; Phil. 3:5; Acts 26:4, 5; 

22:28 
§42. His early environment and education in Jerusalem. Acts 21:39; 22 '3 

§43. His career as a persecutor. Acts 8:3; 9:1, 2; 22:4, 5; 26:9-11; Gal. 

1:13 

§41. His Family and Political Status. — Our knowledge re- 
garding the family of Paul is very slight. He himself never men- 
tions father or mother, brother or sister. He was born in Tarsus, 
but was of pure Jewish descent. This is implied in his saying that 
he was a Hebrew of Hebrews (Phil. 3:5), and is implied also in the 
fact that he was a member of the Sanhedrin (Acts 26:10), for none 
but pure Jews could sit in that court (cf. Schurer, Jewish People, 
etc., Div. 2, Vol. I, p. 176). We know from Paul's word to the chief 
captain in Jerusalem that his father was a Roman citizen (Acts 
22:28); but we can not infer from this that his family was wealthy, 
even moderately so. The bestowal of Roman citizenship on Jews 
was not dependent on the amount of their property. On the other 
hand, the fact that Paul learned a trade (Acts 18:3) is no evidence 
that his father was poor, for the rabbis taught that it was every man's 
duty to teach his son a trade. Nor should we see a proof of wealth 
in the fact that Paul was educated in Jerusalem, for near relatives 
of his family may have lived there (cf. Acts 23:16), and in any case 
the cost of instruction was probably small. 

The word of Paul to Agrippa that he had lived after the straitest 
sect of the Jews' religion (Acts 26:5), also his saying before the Sanhe- 
drin: "lama Pharisee, a son of Pharisees" (Acts 23 : 6), and the char- 
acter of the man when we first meet him in Acts, suggests that in his 
father's house there was a zealous observance of the law. We may 
also safely infer from these facts that he was carefully instructed in 
the Scriptures from earliest youth. What Josephus says of the train- 
ing of all Jewish children, though manifestly somewhat exaggerated, 

53 



54 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

may well have been applicable in a good degree to Paul. He says 
that the children learned the law as soon as they became sensible of 
anything, and had it engraven on their souls, so that they could tell 
the whole of it more easily than they could tell their own names. 

By the side of Paul's Pharisaic descent stands next in order of 
importance the fact that he was born a Roman citizen (Acts 22:28). 
This would have meant a good deal to him even if he had passed 
his life in Tarsus ; it meant more to him in his world-wide travels as 
a Christian missionary. The chief privileges of Roman citizenship 
were three: trial by Roman courts, freedom from dishonorable 
punishments, like scourging and crucifixion, and the right of appeal 
to Caesar. It is true Paul suffered much injustice, chiefly at the 
hands of the Jews, in spite of the fact that he was a Roman citizen, 
but it is also true that his citizenship saved him from much injustice. 
We know that it secured his honorable release from prison in Philippi, 
that it saved him from scourging in Jerusalem, and that it delivered 
him at last from the plots of the Jews by taking him to Caesar's bar. 

§42. His Early Environment and Education in Jerusalem. — 
Paul was proud, not only of his Roman citizenship, but also of the 
fact that he was a citizen of Tarsus. This city was on the Cydnus 
River in level Cilicia, twelve miles from the Mediterranean coast and 
about 515 miles northwest from Jerusalem. For a century before 
Paul's birth Tarsus had been free, and therefore possessed impor- 
tant rights and privileges. It controlled its own finances, had juris- 
diction over its own citizens and over foreigners while they sojourned 
there, and enjoyed freedom from the Roman land-tax and from a 
Roman garrison. 

. Tarsus ranked with Athens and Alexandria as a center of educa- 
tion and culture. Strabo who studied in Tarsus a little before the 
time of Paul ranked it above these cities in philosophy and general 
education, and he also says that in his day Rome was full of learned 
men from Tarsus and Alexandria. It was the home of the poet 
Aratus (270 b. a), from whose words Paul quoted in the Areopagus 
address (Acts 17:28). On an ambitious and alert mind like Paul's 
the passing of boyhood in a large city which was famous the world 
over for its devotion to letters, a city in which the Greek language 
was spoken and where one saw something of the best civilization of 



LIFE OF PAUL BEFORE HIS CONVERSION 55 

the age, can hardly have been without deep and abiding influence. 
It may be taken as a matter of course that he acquired a knowledge 
of Greek in Tarsus, the language through which he was to enrich 
the religious literature of the world, and also that the impressions 
derived from the life of the city were of an informing and mentally 
stimulating character. They helped to make him, in the best sense 
of the word, a man of the world. 

But Paul was destined to become a rabbi, and therefore was 
sent at an early age to study at Jerusalem. How old he was at this 
time we can not tell definitely, yet the language which he used on 
two occasions seems to imply that he had not passed out of boyhood 
(Acts 22:3; 26:4). 

Paul was fortunate in his teacher. Gamaliel I was the most 
illustrious representative of the school of Hillel, of whom, according 
to some scholars, he was a grandson. He was one of the four teach- 
ers to whom the Mishna gives the most honorable title of "rabban." 
Tradition represents him as humble-minded, one who served those 
who were inferior to him in rank. In Acts Gamaliel appears as a 
man of courage and independence, not afraid to advocate an un- 
popular cause; a man of cool dispassionate temper, and perhaps of 
a somewhat liberal mind, for he appears to have thought it possible 
that God was in the religious movement whose leaders were on trial. 

We can form only a general idea of the substance and method of 
the education which Paul received in the school of Gamaliel. The 
rabbis met their pupils in the courts of the temple. The work of 
the school was chiefly memorizing. The teacher repeated again 
and again an explanation of a Scripture passage until the scholars 
also could repeat it. Hence it came to pass that the word "repeat" 
meant to teach. The ideal of the student was to be like a well-plas- 
tered cistern, which loses no drop of water that is put into it. 

The content of rabbinic teaching was, theoretically, the law of 
Moses, but in reality it was the traditional interpretation of that law, 
which was regarded as of even greater value. There was no place 
in the curriculum for the history and literature of any gentile people, 
no place for art or for such knowledge of science as was then extant 
among the Egyptians and Greeks. A Hellenist like Paul may have 
read Greek literature while studying in Jerusalem, but as a pupil of 



56 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

Gamaliel his one subject of study was the law and its traditional 
interpretation, and the language used was the Aramaic. 

How long Paul sat at the feet of Gamaliel, and whether he him- 
self obtained a license to teach, are questions which must remain 
unanswered. It is probable that he returned to Tarsus and re- 
mained there some time prior to his appearance in the book of Acts 
at the martyrdom of Stephen. It is most natural to think that he 
learned his trade of weaving goat's hair in his native city, for this 
was a Cilician industry, and it is doubtful whether he could have 
found opportunity in Jerusalem to learn it. Moreover, it seems 
improbable that he was in Jerusalem during the public ministry of 
Jesus, for had he been, it is likely that he would have seen the prophet 
over whom the religious authorities were so much excited. If, 
however, he had seen Jesus, it is probable that we should have some 
sort of allusion to the fact in his writings; but there is none, for 2 
Cor. 5:16 refers only to a false judgment of Jesus which Paul had 
formerly entertained. 

Though it is not easy to believe that Paul was in Jerusalem 
during the public ministry of Jesus, it seems probable that he had 
been there some time before the death of Stephen. His language in 
Acts 26:10 implies that he was a member of the supreme court, and 
this fact in turn seems to imply that he had already distinguished 
himself in Jerusalem. It is possible that he had come back .to the 
city as the rabbi of the Cilician synagogue, and in that capacity had 
come into prominence. 

§ 43. His Career as a Persecutor. — There is no reason to doubt 
that Paul persecuted the followers of Jesus with a good conscience 
(Acts 26:9), and thought that he was thereby offering acceptable 
service unto God (cf. John 16:2). He threw himself wholly into 
the work because he was wholly bent on pleasing the Lord. His 
motive was purely religious. 

It is plain that Paul had the support of the Sanhedrin as a 
whole (Acts 9:2; 22:5; 26:10), though his course can hardly have 
had the approval of Gamaliel. On what grounds the Roman pro- 
curator was moved to sanction the death of disciples of Jesus we 
are not told. It is not unlikely that he did it for the same reason 
that Agrippa, at a later day, seized Peter with the intention of put- 



LIFE OF PAUL BEFORE HIS CONVERSION 57 

ting him to death, that is, because it was a policy that pleased the 
leading Jews. 

The success of Paul in Jerusalem was obviously very marked. 
Luke speaks of the persecution as "great" and as a "wasting of the 
church" (Acts 8:i, 3), in consequence of which many believers fled; 
and Paul's own language is equally strong. He declares that he 
persecuted the church beyond measure and made havoc of it (Gal. 
1:13). The report of his doings had reached Damascus before 
him, and had caused believers to tremble (Acts 9:13-14). But 
though the persecution checked the Christian movement in Jeru- 
salem for a time, it seems not long to have survived the departure of 
Paul. When he returned, after about three years, he found the 
apostles in Jerusalem, and at that time, according to Luke, Peter 
was making tours through Judea undisturbed (Acts 9:32). 

§44. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) Where was 
Paul born ? (2) What implies that he was of pure Jewish descent ? 
(3) To what sect did his family belong? (4) What instruction is 
it likely that he had in his home ? (5) What was his political status ? 
(6) What were the chief privileges of Roman citizenship? (7) In 
what signal instances did his Roman citizenship benefit him ? 

(8) Describe the location of Tarsus and its political privileges. 
(9) How did Tarsus rank in education ? (10) What did the passing 
of childhood and early youth in Tarsus probably mean to Paul ? (11) 
At what age did Paul go to Jerusalem? (12) Who was his teacher 
there ? (13) What was the method of rabbinic teaching ? (14) With 
what subjects did it deal? (15) What reasons are there for thinking 
that Paul returned to Tarsus for a time after his studies in Jerusalem ? 
(16) What reasons are there for thinking that he had been in Jeru- 
salem a considerable time before the death of Stephen? (17) What 
was the character of Paul's religious and moral life in these days be- 
fore his conversion to Christianity? See especially Gal. 1 114; Phil. 
3-5,6. 

(18) In what spirit did Paul enter into the persecution of believers ? 
(19) On what ground did the Roman procurator probably allow the 
persecution to go on ? (20) What was the success of the persecu- 
tion in Jerusalem? (21) When does it appear to have died out? 



5« 



CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 



§ 45. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Litera- 
ture. 

1. On the basis of the foregoing paragraphs and of your own 
study of the New Testament write a chapter on the life of Paul before 
his conversion. Note especially those points which helped to fit 
him for his career as a Christian missionary, and include an estimate 
of his moral character while he was still a Pharisee. 

2. On the political status of Jews in the Dispersion read: 
Josephus, Antiquities, 12.3.1; 14.7.2; 16.6. 1; 14. 10. 13-19; and Schiirer 

The Jewish People, etc., Div. 2, Vol. II, pp. 270-81. 

3. On the question of Paul's marriage see: 
Gilbert, Student's Life of Paul, pp. 20, 21. 

4. On rabbinic interpretation see : 

Cone, Paul the Man, the Missionary, and the Teacher, pp. 7-21. 




THE EMPEROR TIBERIUS 



CHAPTER VII 

THE EARLY CHRISTIAN LIFE OF PAUL 
SYNOPSIS 

§46. The conversion of Paul. Acts 9: 1-9; 22:6-16; 26:12-18; Gal. 1:13-17; 

1 Cor. 9:1; 15:8; 2 Cor. 4:6 
§ 47. The three years in Damascus and Arabia. Acts 9: 19 6-22 ; Gal. 1 : 16-17. 
§ 48. The return to Jerusalem and work in Syria and Cilicia. Acts 9:23-30; 

Gal. 1:18-24 

§ 46. The Conversion of Paul. — The New Testament says more 
about the conversion of Paul than is said anywhere in Scripture 
about the conversion of any other man. And of all the events 
of the apostolic age probably none was of greater importance for its 
influence on the subsequent history of Christianity than Paul's 
abandonment of his Pharisaism to become a Christian. This sig- 
nificant event took place near Damascus, breaking into and ending 
Saul's career as a persecutor of Christians. It unquestionably in- 
volved for him a profound modification of his religious convictions, 
and led to a total change of his career. From having been a vigorous 
opponent of the new religion, he became at once a devout disciple 
of Jesus, and in the years that followed probably the most potent 
factor of that age in the promotion of Christianity and in the deter- 
mining of its character. The importance of the event is reflected in 
the various accounts of it which the New Testament gives. There 
are three accounts in Acts, two of which purport to be by Paul him- 
self, and in the epistles to the Galatians and Corinthians we have at 
least three references to it. There is also an indirect but important 
reference to it in Philippians. 

1) The event according to the epistles. — According to Galatians, Paul's 
conversion occurred in or near Damascus, and had been immediately preceded 
by a career of persecution (1:17; 13-15). He here attributes the change to a 
revelation of the Son of God in him (1:15, 16). The change is represented as 
sudden. The work of persecution was instantly abandoned and Paul at once 
departed into Arabia (Gal. 1:16, 17). This narrative contains no suggestion 
of an external phenomenon in connection with Paul's conversion. The vital 
fact in it is a spiritual apprehension of Christ. 

59 



60 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

The word of Paul in i Cor. 9:1, "Have I not seen Jesus our Lord" is to be 
referred to the same event of which Gal. 1:16 speaks. Paul here derives his 
apostleship from the fact that he has seen Jesus the Lord; but obviously a behold- 
ing of Jesus with the eyes of flesh would have established no claim to apostle- 
ship. The passage, therefore, points to that spiritual vision mentioned in Gala- 
tians (1:15), which, because it carried conviction of the resurrection of Jesus, 
sustained a vital relation to Paul's apostleship. 

The vision of Jesus mentioned in 1 Cor. 15:8 is to be identified with that of 
1 Cor. 9:1 and Gal. 1:16. For the appearance of which Paul here speaks was 
to him the signal evidence of the resurrection of Jesus; but after the event of 
Gal. 1 : 16 he certainly never needed proof of the resurrection. It is to be noticed 
that the Greek word in 1 Cor. 15:8, which is rendered in English by "appeared," 
is commonly used of spiritual appearances, and that in Paul's address before 
Agrippa he speaks of what he saw on the way to Damascus as a heavenly "vision" 
(oTrracr/a), a word from the same stem as that used in 1 Cor. 15:8. 

If the shining into the heart, mentioned in 2 Cor. 4:6, is an autobiographical 
allusion, it plainly agrees with the conception of Gal. 1:16, but adds also that 
in the revelation of Jesus as the Son of God, Paul was assured that he obtained 
also a revelation of the glory of the divine character. 

But from the fact that Galatians mentions nothing external in connection 
with Paul's conversion it can not be at once inferred that there was nothing of 
the sort. We have no right to assume that the passage in Galatians is a complete 
account of the conversion of Paul. Indeed, the passage 1 Cor. 15:5-8, by asso- 
ciating the appearance of Jesus to Paul with other appearances to large groups 
of people at once, seems to imply that he ascribed external reality to that which 
caused his own experience and theirs. The Galatian passage, however, must 
be taken as specializing what the apostle himself regarded as fundamental in his 
experience near Damascus. 

2) The event according to Acts. — Two of the three accounts of Paul's con- 
version in Acts are ascribed to him, the other is by the author. No two are 
identical, and the differences between those attributed to the apostle are as notable 
as the differences between these and that of Luke. The two accounts attributed 
to Paul have some graphic details that lend support to the view that they did, 
indeed, originate with him. Thus we are told that it was about noon when the 
event occurred; that the light was great above the brightness of the sun; that 
it shone round about them all; that the one who spoke to Paul said: "I am 
Jesus of Nazareth;" that all fell to the earth; and that Jesus said to Paul: "It 
is hard for thee to kick against the goad." 

Again, the differences in the accounts which are ascribed to Paul are as 
easily explained on the theory that they originated with Paul as they are if the 
accounts are regarded as Luke's own production. We should not expect that 
Paul, speaking twenty-five years after his conversion, would on different occa- 
sions describe the event in the same terms and mention the same incidents. 



62 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

On the other hand, if the accounts had been original with Luke, it is not likely 
that he would have represented the commission to go to the gentiles as coming 
to Paul in one case from Jesus himself outside the city (Acts 26: 16-18), and in the 
other as coming from Ananias in the city (Acts 22:14, 1 5)- 

Coming now to the points of agreement, two are worthy of especial note: 
(a) The three narratives agree that there was some sort of external phenomenon 
connected with Paul's conversion. He and his companions beheld a light, 
and he, at least, heard a sound, (b) The narratives agree that Paul met Jesus 
near Damascus, and since they appear to preclude a physical seeing of him, 
we must suppose that they desire to represent Paul as having had a spiritual 
vision. Jesus was thought of as present, yet not in a form that was visible to 
mortal eyes. He was present in a spiritual body, and in this Paul, whose bodily 
eyes were blinded, beheld him spiritually. In this point the narrative in Acts 
agrees with the representation of Paul in the epistles, and this point is funda 
mental. The fact that Paul does not mention any external phenomenon in his 
letters may simply show that he regarded it as of incidental importance. His 
silence is not a proof that the narrative in Acts is unhistorical. 

3. Preparation for the event near Damascus. — There was doubt- 
less something in Paul's inner life that led up to the event by Damas- 
cus. He says, indeed, that he received his apostleship directly through 
Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:1), and also that the hour of his change came 
when it was the good pleasure of God to reveal his Son in him (Gal. 
1:9, 16); but these statements do not imply that the transformation 
of his belief regarding Jesus came without preparation. To say 
that he was not the convert of any man, or that he had not received 
his apostleship from men, is not to say that his conversion had no 
roots in his previous life. 

Paul's language in Galatians precludes the possibility that he 
had received Christian instruction, and the fact that he was zeal- 
ously persecuting the church when he went to Damascus seems to 
indicate that he was not conscious of any leaning toward Christianity. 
It is of course possible that his heart had been touched by the martyr 
courage of Christians, but in the absence of any evidence whatever, 
it is quite idle to speculate. 1 The most valuable hint on the 
antecedents of the conversion of Paul is furnished by the auto- 
biographical passage in the seventh chapter of Romans. The 
apostle is here interpreting past experiences in the light of present 

1 The word in Acts 26:14: "It is hard for thee to kick against the goad," may 
mean simply that Paul's course was vain and brought injury only to himself. It 
probably does not imply that he doubted the Tightness of his course. 



64 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

knowledge, and we can not hold that the struggle of the spirit which 
he describes had been felt by him at the time so keenly as he now 
intimates that it had been. But the passage certainly suggests that he 
must have felt, at times at least, that his righteousness, though per- 
fect according to the standards of Judaism, was unsatisfactory, if 
not an utter failure. Observance of the law as it had been interpreted 
by the scribes, had not been able to do away with a sense of bondage 
to sin. Here, then, we may see a real preparation for the experi- 
ence by Damascus. The doubt of which he was sometimes conscious 
was not a doubt in regard to the claim of Jesus, not a doubt which 
had been created by the Christian movement in Jerusalem, but a 
doubt whether the righteousness of works was pleasing to God. The 
existence of such a doubt is an evidence of the depth and sincerity 
of Paul's religious nature, and it furnishes a basis for an explana- 
tion of his conversion. 

4. The nature of the conversion as a religious experience. — But 
of more importance than the preparation for the event is the experi- 
ence itself. If we then attempt to define from all the evidence what 
Paul's conversion meant for him as a religious experience, we find 
that it involved at least three things : (a) The new, but firm, convic- 
tion that Jesus had risen from the dead (1 Cor. 15:8); (b) the no less 
revolutionary conviction that Jesus was the Christ (Gal. 1:16); and 
(c) the recognition, gained at once or as the early sequel of the initial 
experience, that the way of righteousness by deeds of law, which 
he had been pursuing, was a failure (Gal. 2:19; Rom. 7:7-25; 8:3), 
and that instead, fellowship with God and acceptance by him were to 
be obtained through believing in Jesus, the Son of God (Phil. 3:7-9), 
in whose face there shines the light of the knowledge of the glory of 
God (2 Cor. 4:6). 

5. The commission. — Inseparable from Paul's conversion, both 
according to Acts and his own letters, was the conviction that he 
had a mission from Jesus to the gentiles. He says that this was 
God's purpose in revealing Christ to him (Gal. 1 : 16), and he repeat- 
edly connects the mission to the gentiles with his first vision of Jesus 
(1 Cor. 9:1; 15:8, 9). This conviction of a mission to the gentiles 
was natural. Paul had lived in the gentile world, and his experience 
had given him a much broader horizon than the original apostles 



EARLY CHRISTIAN LIFE OF PAUL 



65 



had. He knew the gentile world, its elements of power as well as its 
deep need, and he knew that the g spel had been c -nl'med thus far 
to the Jews. A deeper gr< und 1 f Paul's C< nviction that he was divinely 




"THE STREET THAT IS CALLED STRAIGHT," DAMASCUS 

called to the gentiles may well have been the pure graciousness of 
God in his own salvation. The vision of Jesus had been granted to 
him w T hile he was doing his utmost to destroy the disciples of Jesus. 
Thus, with the acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah there was asso- 



66 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

ciated an ineradicable impression of the divine goodness that offers 
salvation freely to the "chief" of sinners. This salvation, therefore, 
must be for all men, gentiles no less than Jews. Paul's own deep 
and sad experience that Jewish legalism is not able to save a man 
would naturally have intensified his desire to go to his gentile 
fellow-men with his new message of salvation through Jesus. 

§ 47. The Three Years in Damascus and Arabia. — The letters 
of Paul say nothing of what happened in the days immediately suc- 
ceeding his conversion — his baptism by Ananias, the restoration of 
his sight, and his preaching in the synagogue. A passage in second 
Corinthians implies that he preached the gospel in Damascus at 
some time, but this preaching, according to Gal. 1:7, seems to have 
followed the sojourn in Arabia (2 Cor. 11:32). 

It is probable that Paul was taken to the house in Damascus 
whither he had expected to go when he left Jerusalem. According 
to Luke, this was the house of a certain Judas in Straight Street 
(Acts 9:11). In a short time the Jews of Damascus must have heard 
something of the strange events connected with Paul's approach to 
their city, at least they must have heard that he had abandoned his 
crusade against the disciples of Jesus. Luke tells us that a certain 
Jewish Christian, by the name of Ananias, heard of Paul's arrival 
and of his state, and that he came to him in the spirit of Jesus to com- 
fort him (Acts 9:10-17; 22:12-16). There is nothing improbable 
in the statement that he baptized Paul, for Paul would surely have 
desired to receive this rite from someone ; and why not from Ananias 
(Acts 9:18; 22:16)? It is easily credible also that Ananias uttered 
some prophetic words regarding Paul's future. The sudden inter- 
ruption of his career of persecution and his acceptance of the 
gospel would have suggested that he might have a remarkable work 
to do. 

That Paul was blinded by the glory of the light which shone 
upon him by Damascus, and that his sight was restored by Ananias, 
we learn from Acts alone. There can be no doubt that Luke thought 
of the restoration of physical sight. A figurative interpretation of the 
healing, to the effect that Paul came out into the light of faith through 
Ananias, is excluded by the statements of Paul in the letter to the 
Galatians. 



EARLY CHRISTIAN LIFE OF PAUL 67 

Immediately after his conversion Paul went away into Arabia, 
by which term is probably meant the neighboring kingdom of Aretas 
IV (cf. Schurer, The Jewish People, etc., Div. i, Vol. II, pp.356 fL). 
The purpose of this retirement is nowhere intimated, but we may 
conjecture that it was for meditation. The changed attitude toward 
Jesus must have raised many and serious questions, and it would 
have been natural if Paul desired to get aw r ay into solitude to think 
out his answers to them. The approximate length of this Arabian 
sojourn can be inferred from a passage in Galatians (1:18). Paul 
says here that it was three years from his conversion to his return to 
Jerusalem, and according to Acts his stay in Damascus was com- 
paratively short (Acts 9:19, 23). Hence he appears to have spent 
the greater part of the three years in Arabia. 

Following the suggestion of Paul in Galatians we think of his 
preaching in Damascus as having been subsequent to the Arabian 
sojourn. This preaching continued long enough to arouse a- bitter 
opposition to the apostle, with which the governor of the city sym- 
pathized (2 Cor. n 132, 33); long enough also to win certain disciples 
by whose help Paul's life was saved (Acts 9:25). 

§ 48. The Return to Jerusalem, and the Work in Syria and 
Cilicia. — When Paul fled from Damascus he went back to Jerusalem, 
chiefly, it would appear, for the purpose of becoming acquainted 
with Peter. He had doubtless already known of him as a promi- 
nent leader of the hated sect which he was persecuting as he set out 
for Damascus three years before, but now he would become ac- 
quainted w T ith him as a fellow-disciple of the Christ. In the accom- 
plishment of this purpose he spent fifteen days with Peter. We may 
believe that in these days and from the lips of Peter he heard in full 
the story of the ministry of Jesus and stored his mind with a large 
number of the Master's words. Thus through the experience with 
Peter he must have gained a picture of the earthly life of Jesus which 
he needed to associate with his vision of the exalted Christ. 

But it is significant that Paul did not spend all his time while 
in Jerusalem as a hearer of that which Peter could tell him. As in 
Damascus after his return from Arabia, so here, he had a message 
to utter, and he seems to have given it with his characteristic vigor, 
for the Hellenists were soon ready to kill him. It was not this fact, 



68 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

however, that led to his departure from Jerusalem. Indeed, the fact 
of opposition might very probably have made Paul feel that the Lord 
had a work for him just then in Jerusalem (see i Cor. 16:9). But 
"the brethren" who knew of the hostility toward him brought him 
down to Caesarea to take ship for Tarsus, after he had become con- 
vinced that this was the Lord's will. 

If he must leave Jerusalem, it was natural that he should turn 
his steps toward his home in Tarsus; and since he was already filled 
with the thought that his life was to be devoted to the preaching of 
the gospel to the gentiles, we may suppose that as he set out for his 
native province it was with the expectation of entering immediately 
upon missionary work. How long he spent in Tarsus we do not 
know. The entire period between his departure from Jerusalem 
and his going to Antioch as co-laborer with Barnabas (Acts 11 125, 26) 
may be approximately estimated at ten years. For the fourteen 
years of Gal. 2 : 1 cover this period together with the first missionary 
journey from Antioch, which we may estimate at three years, and 
also the year spent in Antioch (Acts 11:26). 

In his letter to the Galatians Paul does not specify Tarsus, but 
writes that when he left Jerusalem it was to go into the regions of 
Syria and Cilicia (Gal. 1 121). If he did missionary work in Tarsus, 
as we may reasonably suppose that he did, he labored also elsewhere 
in the province and in the adjoining Syria. For immediately after his 
statement that he went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia he tells 
the Galatians that the churches of Judea heard that he was success- 
fully preaching the faith of which he had once made havoc. The 
necessary inference from these words is that what they heard in Judea 
concerned his work in Syria and Cilicia. And to the correctness of 
this conclusion Luke bears indirect witness, for he says that Paul, 
at the beginning of his second tour from Antioch, went through Syria 
and Cilicia, confirming the churches (Acts 14:41). Now the fact 
that Paul visited and confirmed certain churches in these regions 
leads us to believe that he founded them, for it was his principle not 
to build on another man's foundation. But if he established these 
churches, it must have been done during the period immediately 
after his first visit in Jerusalem. 



EARLY CHRISTIAN LIFE OF PAUL 69 

Acts and Galatians are not wholly in agreement in regard to the events of 
this paragraph, but the differences are mainly such as might naturally flow from 
the different aims of the two writers. Paul was showing his independence of 
those who were apostles before him. This independence did not imply that he 
isolated himself from all believers in Jerusalem. On the contrary, it was con- 
sistent with free intercourse with his Christian brethren. The aim of Luke was 
to give a general sketch of Paul's career, not to show the independence of his 
apostleship, and having this aim he might naturally dwell on the more public 
aspect of Paul's visit to Jerusalem. The only statement of Acts which can not 
be explained in harmony with Galatians is that Paul preached throughout all 
the country of Judea (26:20). In general, however, Luke's narrative affords 
& valuable supplement to Paul's brief account of his first visit in Jerusalem after 
his conversion. 

§49. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (i) What material 
have we in regard to the conversion of Paul ? (2) What are the 
main facts of the case according to Galatians ? (3) Why is 1 Cor. 9 : 1 
to be referred to the apostle's conversion? (4) Why is 1 Cor. 15:8 
to be referred to the same event ? (5) Can we assume that the 
Galatian passage is a complete account of Paul's conversion ? 
(6) What details in the narrative of Paul's conversion in Acts 22 
and 26 favor the view that the material came from him ? (7) In 
what main points do the three narratives of Acts agree ? (8) Was 
Paul conscious of any leaning toward Christianity when he went 
to Damascus ? (9) What light does Rom. 7 throw on the conversion 
of Paul ? 

(10) Why was it natural for Paul to associate a call to work among 
the gentiles with his vision of Jesus? (11) Describe the relation of 
Ananias of Damascus to Paul. (12) How did Luke regard the res- 
toration of Paul's sight ? (13) What objection to the figurative in- 
terpretation of the language ? (14) Where did Paul go immediately 
after his conversion? (15) What was the probable aim of this re- 
tirement ? (16) What was the approximate length of the Arabian 
sojourn? (17) When did Paul preach in Damascus, and how long? 
(18) Where did Paul go when he fled from Damascus, and for what 
purpose? (19) Describe his visit to Jerusalem. (20) Where did 
he go from Jerusalem? (21) How long did he labor in Syria and 
Cilicia ? 



7° 



CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 



§ 50. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Litera- 
ture. 

1. Write a chapter on the early Christian life of Paul. Put the 
accounts of his conversion in parallel columns, and by the side of 
these all that bears upon the event which you find in Paul's letters. 
Describe his conversion, and his earliest missionary work in these 
places — Damascus, Jerusalem, Syria and Cilicia. 

2. On the time of Paul's vision in Jerusalem (Acts 22, 17-21) 
see: 

Ramsay, St. Paul, the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, pp. 61-64. 

3. On the roads to Damascus and on the history of the city read: 
Conybeare and Howson, Life and Epistles of St. Paid, 1, 84 ff. 

4. For an explanation of the mode of Paul's conversion see: 
Bacon, The Story of St. Paul, pp. 5T-67. 




PAUL 
From a Mosaic at Ravenna) 



CHAPTER VIII 

PETER IN A GENTILE HOME 
SYNOPSIS 

§51. How Peter came to Caesarea. Acts 9:32-42; 10:9-240 

§ 52. Peter's sermon in the house of Cornelius and its results. Acts 10:246-48 

§ 53. Peter's act recognized in the church at Jerusalem. Acts 11:1-18 

§ 54. The relation of the Caesarean incident to the gentile mission of Paul. 

§ 51. How Peter Came to Caesarea. — The visit of Peter to Lydda 
and Joppa is not introduced by Luke for its own sake, though he 
regarded the two signs wrought in those places as noteworthy; but 
it is introduced to show by what steps the apostle came to the most 
extraordinary event of his missionary experience. It came to pass 
that, as he went throughout all parts, he visited Lydda, and as that 
town was nigh unto Joppa he was summoned thither in an emergency 
which had befallen some disciples; and the sojourn in Joppa, in its 
turn, became in various ways a stepping-stone to the visit in Caesarea 
and the occurrence in the house of Cornelius. Thus the narrative 
of the Caesarean visit began naturally at Lydda. 

It is to be noticed that Peter was not out on an evangelistic tour, 
strictly speaking, but rather on a tour of pastoral visitation. It was 
the "saints" at Lydda whom he visited, and it was to comfort certain 
" disciples" that he went on to Joppa. These two towns, moreover, 
were almost entirely Jewish, and thus, until the trance in Joppa, 
there is nothing in the narrative to suggest that Peter was thinking 
of the relation of the gospel to the gentiles. 

Two circumstances of Peter's stay in Joppa, which perhaps 
are not to be separated from each other, forecast the visit to Corne- 
lius in Caesarea. Peter lodged with a Jew, presumably a disciple, 
who was by his trade a tanner, and therefore, according to rabbinical 
ideas, was levitically unclean. It is to the credit of Peter that he 
ignored this rabbinical teaching, and accepted the hospitality of 
Simon. It is possible that he took this step without any inner ques- 
tioning, acting impulsively according to his nature; but it is also 

71 



72 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

natural to think that during the "many days" which he spent with 
Simon in Joppa he was constrained sooner or later, perhaps by what 
some of his friends said of his course, to think seriously of his position 
and to defend it. In this case we should have an explanation of the 
particular turn taken by his dream, which was the second of the two 
circumstances mentioned above. Peter was hungry when he fell into 
a trance, and accordingly in his vision he beheld abundance of food, 
but on his appropriation of this food the question which had occu- 
pied his waking thoughts had its influence. For the beasts, birds, 
and creeping things which he saw in the sheet appeared to him un- 
clean, yet he was summoned to kill and eat. Against this summons 
his Jewish training, which had penetrated, as it were, the subconscious 
sphere of his life, raised its protest. Then he heard a voice which 
told him that God had "cleansed" these living creatures in the sheet: 
they were not, therefore, "common and unclean," as he had supposed. 
He could kill and eat with impunity. We may see the natural back- 
ground of this part of the dream-message in a questioning of Peter's 
mind whether Simon was "unclean" because of his trade, or "clean" 
because he had been accepted as a disciple of Jesus. 

When the trance passed, Peter was perplexed as to its meaning; 
but the appearance just then of the gentile soldiers with their invita- 
tion from Cornelius was a providential hint as to its correct interpre- 
tation. In his dream Peter had been summoned to kill and eat what 
appeared to him to be unclean, and a voice had then told him that 
God had cleansed it : now, when he was summoned to go and preach 
to a gentile, one whom he had been brought up to regard as unclean, 
he could not long have failed to see that the dream- voice had a mean- 
ing pertinent to the circumstances. His interpretation was in line 
with his acceptance of Simon's hospitality, though the lesson of the 
vision carried him further. In Joppa he had lodged with a Chris- 
tian Jew, who was levitically unclean; now he was called to preach 
even to a gentile. But the first experience confirmed by the dream 
made the second step easy. 

That Peter realized the gravity of the step which he was about to 
take, and that he foresaw trouble springing out of it, is suggested by 
the fact that he took at least six Christian Jews with him to Caesarea 
from Joppa (Acts 11:12). 



74 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

§ 52. Peters Sermon in the House of Cornelius and its Results. — 

The Roman centurion, Cornelius, though a God-fearing man and 
acquainted with the Jewish religion (Acts 10:2, 22), was obviously 
not a proselyte like the Ethiopian treasurer. The outpouring of the 
Spirit on him and his was a cause of amazement to the companions 
of Peter, because his household were gentiles (Acts 10:45), and it 
was for the same reason that the event was considered so significant by 
the church in Jerusalem (Acts 11 : 18). The acceptance of the gospel 
by a pagan who was already a proselyte to Judaism occasioned no 
particular surprise, as the case of Nicolas, one of the Seven, teaches 
(Acts 6:5). 

Various circumstances suggest that the religion of Cornelius was 
of a noble and winning character. Thus, e. g., his household agreed 
with him (vs. 12); even his servants and at least one of his soldiers 
were in religious sympathy with him (vs. 17). And again, when it 
was time for Peter to come, Cornelius had his kinsmen and near 
friends assemble to hear him (Acts 10:24). 

The vision of Cornelius which led to his sending for Peter natu- 
rally suggests that he had not only heard something about the new 
movement (see vs. 37), as he may have done when Philip returned 
to Caesarea (Acts 8:40), but also that he was thinking about it and 
desiring to know more. 

Luke's brief abstract of Peter's sermon in the house of Cornelius 
bears witness in its opening sentence to the recent liberalizing of the 
apostle's view in regard to the gentile world. It must have been plain 
to Peter that God had communicated with Cornelius, though a gen- 
tile, and this fact, following closely upon his strange dream in Joppa, 
led to a general conclusion regarding all gentiles. This conclusion, 
since it recognized that the ground of acceptance with God did not 
consist in the observance of Jewish rites and laws, but rather in a 
devout mind and in practical righteousness, was adapted to gain the 
good will of his hearers. 

Peter preached to his gentile audience substantially what he had 
preached to the Jews on the day of Pentecost. He dwelt first on the 
life of Jesus, which showed that God was with him, then on his 
death and resurrection, and finally, after claiming that he had been 
authorized by Jesus to bear witness of him as the judge of men, he 



PETER IN A GENTILE HOME 75 

pointed out the way of salvation, which was in accord with the pro- 
phetic word. This was the way of faith in the name of Jesus, as the 
one whom God had anointed and ordained to be deliverer and judge. 

The result of Peter's sermon in the house of Cornelius was more 
striking than that which followed his preaching in Jerusalem at 
Pentecost. Before he had finished his address some of his hearers 
were moved to ecstatic speech, a proof that the Spirit had been poured 
out upon them. What had taken place in the upper chamber was 
repeated here in a pagan home (Acts n 115), excepting the supernat- 
ural prelude to the Pentecostal speaking with tongues. Without 
any imposition of hands and prior to their baptism these gentiles 
had received the Spirit. The evidence was so clear that no one 
could object to their baptism and reception into the company of 
Christian disciples. 

§ 53. Peter's Act Recognized in the Church at Jerusalem. — 
The news of the conversion of gentiles in Caesarea reached Jerusalem 
ahead of Peter, who tarried some days with Cornelius and his friends 
(Acts 10:48). On his return he was called to account by certain 
Jewish believers (not unbelievers, cf. 11:18), but the narrative of 
Luke does not make clear why they thus called him to account. 
According to n :i, what they heard from Caesarea was that the 
gentiles had received the word of God, and in vs. 18 we are told that, 
after Peter's address, they glorified God, saying : "Then to the gentiles 
also hath God granted repentance unto life." From these verses 
it would seem that they had not been favorable to the admission of 
gentiles into the church, perhaps had not even thought of such a 
thing, as Peter himself evidently had not before his experiences in 
Joppa and Caesarea. With this agrees the defense which Peter 
made, for he simply told how he had been led to change his view in 
regard to the admission of the gentiles. 

In 11:3 the complaint against Peter is that he had associated with the uncir- 
cumcised. This would have heen a transgression of the traditional law, which, 
we know, the Jews observed with painful scrupulosity. To this complaint 
Peter made no reference in his address, that is, no direct reference. He had, 
indeed, gone in to men uncircumcised, and there is a strong presumption that he 
had eaten with them. He was not the man to stop half-way. He could not, 
then, deny the truth of the complaint, but he sought to quiet the scruples of those 
who had made it in just the way in which his own scruples had been overcome. 



76 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

And in this he succeeded. His critics, carried along by the evidence of God's 
presence with him and God's approval of his course, were constrained to over- 
look his offense against the ceremonial law. 

§ 54. The Relation of the Caesarean Incident to the Gentile Mis- 
sion of Paul. — The preaching of Peter in the home of the Roman 
Cornelius did not result, so far as we know, in the establishment of 
a gentile Christian church; nor is there any indication that Peter 
afterward labored among the gentiles. The conversion of Cornelius 
and his household and friends remained the sole instance of its kind 
in the career of one who was known as an apostle of the circum- 
cision (Gal. 2:7,8). While, therefore, Peter was the first of the 
twelve apostles (as might have been expected) to break through the 
wall which separated gentiles and Jews — a fact that adds much to 
the glory of his career — we can not bring him into comparison with 
Paul as a co-founder of the gentile church. We can not even say 
that he anticipated Paul in preaching to gentiles, for apparently 
Paul was preaching to gentiles in Syria and Cilicia as early as the 
time of Peter's visit to Caesarea (Acts 9:30; Gal. 1:21). Certainly 
Paul's impulse to go to the gentiles was quite independent of Peter's 
mission to Cornelius. 

However, it is certain that Peter's preaching in Caesarea was im- 
portant for the gentile church of the future by way of its influence 
on the Jewish church at Jerusalem. When Paul came up to the 
mother-church seeking the recognition of his work among the gentiles 
(Gal. 2:1-10; Acts 15:1-21), that is, their reception into the Chris- 
tian body without subjection to the law of Moses, the memory of 
Peter's experience in Caesarea must of necessity have been an im- 
portant factor in the discussion, as Luke declares in Acts 15. It 
may be doubted whether a friendly understanding would have been 
reached at that time but for the sporadic work of Peter in the home 
of Cornelius. 

§ 55. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) What is Luke's 
purpose in the account of Peter's visit in Lydda and Joppa? (2) 
What circumstances of Peter's visit in Joppa prepared for his mission 
to Cornelius ? (3) How is the particular form of Peter's dream to 
be explained? (4) How was Peter helped to interpret his dream? 
(5) How many brethren did he take with him from Joppa, and why ? 



PETER IN A GENTILE HOME 77 

(6) Was Cornelius a proselyte ? (7) What was the character of 
his religion ? (8) What does the vision of Cornelius presuppose ? 
(9) How had Peter arrived at the opening thought of his sermon in 
the house of Cornelius ? (10) What was the substance of his sermon ? 
(n) What were the striking features in the conversion of Cornelius and 
his household ? 

(12) By whom was Peter called to account on his return to Jeru- 
salem, and why ? (13) What law had he violated ? (14) What 
was Peter's defense, and what was its effect ? 

(15) Why can we not regard Peter as a co-founder with Paul of 
the gentile church? (16) Is it certain that Peter anticipated Paul 
in preaching to gentiles? (17) How did his preaching in the home 
of Cornelius influence the work of Paul in later years ? (18) Sum 
up the whole significance of this incident for the development of early 
Christianity. 

§ 56. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Litera- 
ture. 

1. Write a chapter on Peter's visit to Cornelius, showing how he 
was led to it step by step, how his mind was prepared for it, how 
wondrously successful his visit was, and how he defended his act in 
Jerusalem. 

2. Locate Lydda, Joppa, and Ca^sarea, describing the roads 
which connected them with Jerusalem. 

See Smith's Historical Geography of the Holy Land. 

3. On the origin and nature of the traditional law read: 
Schurer, The Jewish People, etc., Div. 2, Vol. I, pp. 330-39. 

4. For the view that Luke is wholly responsible for Acts 11:3 see 
McGiffert, The Apostolic Age, pp. 105, 106. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE EARLY DAYS OF THE CHURCH IN ANTIOCH AND CONTEM- 
PORARY EVENTS IN JERUSALEM 

SYNOPSIS 

§ 57. The beginning of the gospel in Antioch. Acts 11:19-26 

§58. Relief sent from Antioch to the brethren in Judea. Acts 11:27-30; 12:25 
§ 59. The persecution of disciples in Jerusalem by Agrippa I. Acts 12:1-24 

§ 57- The Beginning of the Gospel in Antioch. 

1) The city. — The mother-church of the gentiles was founded in 
Antioch, the royal city of the Syrian kings from the time of Antiochus IV, 
situated on the Orontes River, at the northeast corner of the Mediter- 
ranean Sea, about sixteen miles from the coast and a little more than 
two hundred miles north from Jerusalem. It was rated by Josephus 
as the third city in the Empire, Rome and Alexandria probably being 
the two cities which he put before it {Jewish War, 3. 2. 4). Strabo 
reckoned it as the fourth, placing above it, not only Rome and Alex- 
andria, but also Seleucia on the Tigris. It was a free city, and the 
residence of the governor of the province. What its population was 
in the year 44 a. d., when Paul and Barnabas were laboring there 
we can only conjecture. According to the book of Maccabees the 
gentiles of the city raised an army of 125,000 against Demetrius 
(fi5o b. a), but this was nearly two centuries before the intro- 
duction of the gospel. If it ranked next to Rome and Alexandria in 
the time of Josephus, its population may have numbered a million. 
There was a large Jewish element in Antioch, who from the ancient 
days of Seleucus I (f28o b. c.) had possessed the rights of citizenship 
and had enjoyed special immunities. Their synagogue was second 
only to that of Alexandria, and had among its ornaments votive gifts 
of brass which Antiochus Epiphanes (fi64 b. c.) had taken from the 
temple in Jerusalem. Josephus tells us (Jewish War, 7. 3. 3) that 
large numbers of the Greeks in Antioch were always attached to the 
synagogue as proselytes, a fact important for the beginning of Chris- 
tian work in the city. 

78 



80 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

2) The founding of the church in Antioch. — There were two stages 
in the evangelistic work that resulted in the establishment of the 
mother-church of the gentiles. The first preachers who reached 
the city spoke the word to the Jews only (Acts 11:19), being them- 
selves, it is not unlikely, Jews of Palestine. A little later there came 
Hellenists, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who were of the liberal type 
of Barnabas and Stephen and Philip ; and these men, moved by the 
Spirit of God, took the historic step of proclaiming the Lord Jesus 
to the Greeks. 1 This step was doubtless objectionable to some, at 
least, of the Jewish believers, and it may well have been through these 
that the new departure was first made known to the church in Jeru- 
salem. In consequence of this report Barnabas was sent to Antioch, 
where he continued in acceptable and fruitful labor for more than a 
year (Acts 11:23, 26). During most of this time he was aided by 
Paul, whom he had sought out and brought from his mission field 
somewhere in Cilicia or Syria, perhaps from Tarsus (Acts 11:25, 26). 

This narrative regarding the foundation and early history of the church 
in Antioch has been said to be altogether unhistorical (cf., e. g., Weizsacker, 
The Apostolic Age, Vol. I, pp. 104-10). "No single detail is possible." The 
account which Paul himself gives of his relation to the church in Jerusalem 
excludes, we are told, the possibility that he came to Antioch as the helper of 
Barnabas, who had been sent out from Jerusalem as the official superintendent 
of the new work. Now if Barnabas had been sent forth as the official director 
of the work in Antioch, and if he had been recognized and received as such by 
the church there, then, indeed, the statement of Paul's relation to the establish- 
ment of the Antioch church might have occasioned surprise, inasmuch as he 
declared some years later that he had been quite independent of the original apostles 
(Gal. 2). We can not, however, assume that Barnabas, a man of like mind 
with Paul in regard to the right of preaching the gospel directly to the gentiles, 
was sent out by the church in Jerusalem to guide the Antioch movement in the 
interest of Jewish Christianity. If that had been the purpose of the church, 
which Acts does not at all indicate, then their choice of Barnabas certainly defeated 
their purpose. Moreover, there is no trace whatever that the church in Antioch 
recognized Barnabas as having any official authority to modify its development 
in any particular. That church had been founded independently of the apostles, 
and it had not sent to them for their sanction of what had been done, or to ask 
for guidance. And Luke does not say that Barnabas approved of the work, as 

1 The internal evidence of Acts 11:19-26 seems to prove that the author had 
Greeks in mind even though he may have used the word "Hellenists," which some 
MSS. have. 



EARLY DAYS OF THE CHURCH IN ANTIOCH 8 1 

though he was in a sense over it; he only says that Barnabas, being full of the 
Spirit and of faith, was glad of what had been done, and lent himself heartily 
to the furtherance of the work. 

The church in Jerusalem undoubtedly looked with distrust and hesitation 
upon the free offer of Jesus to the gentiles. This is the teaching both of Paul 
and of Acts. There had been, prior to the work in Antioch, but one instance of 
preaching to gentiles, and that seems to have been regarded as exceptional. 
Even Peter himself had not continued in the field which had been providentially 
opened to him. In these circumstances the Jerusalem church was naturally 
solicitous regarding the work in Antioch, and in its solicitude it sent Barnabas 
thither. The exact purpose of this step is not suggested by Luke, but his narra - 
tive does appear to exclude the view that the purpose was to control the work in 
Antioch, to shut the door of the church to the gentile?, or to admit them o-'ly by 
the way of Judaism. 

There remains, therefore, no ground for rejecting the statement that Paul 
came to Antioch at the request of Barnabas and labored with him there for a 
year, teaching and building up the church. His principle that he would not 
build on another man 's foundation was by no means a declaration that he would 
not co-operate with others in Christian work, or that he would in no circumstances 
carry on what another had begun. In Corinth, it is true, he planted and Apollos 
watered; but in Rome someone else planted and he watered. By the very 
letter in which the words occur (Romans) he was building on a foundation which 
he had not laid. And we may be sure that the work in Antioch, inaugurated by 
Hellenists like himself, a work among gentiles like that which he was doing, 
would have appealed to Paul, and especially as it asked his help by the mouth 
of his old friend Barnabas. 

3) The name "Christian." — It is inherently probable that, as 
Luke says, the name " Christian" arose in Antioch with the first 
general preaching to the gentiles. He indicates that the name origi- 
nated outside the church when he says that the disciples were called 
Christians. They called themselves "brethren" and " disciples;" 
the new name was not of their own coinage. It is likely that it origi- 
nated with the gentiles, for the Jews did not admit that the disicples 
of Jesus were followers of the true Messiah or Christ; and so if 
they had called them Christians they would have appeared to admit 
what they did not believe. 

Since it is natural to call disciples by the name of their master, 
there is no ground to think that the name " Christian" was given in 
derision. 

§ 58. Relief Sent from Antioch to the Brethren in Judea. — While 
Paul and Barnabas were laboring in Antioch certain "prophets" 



82 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

came down from Jerusalem, one of whom, Agabus by name, signi- 
fied that there would be a great famine over all the world. This 
prophecy, which, according to Luke, was fulfilled in the days of 
Claudius (41-54 a. d.), stirred up the Christians of Antioch to prepare 
to aid their fellow-believers in Judea, and when the collection was 
ready, it was given into the hands of Paul and Barnabas to be con- 
veyed to its destination. 

Although the proper function of the Christian prophet was not to foretell 
coming events, there is no reason to doubt that such power was sometimes exer- 
cised by them, and there appears to be no good ground to think that Paul would 
have refused to serve his brethren in the distribution of their gift. Yet both the 
statement that Paul visited Jerusalem at this time and the other that there was 
a famine over all the world in the days of Claudius are somewhat difficult. First, 
regarding the famine. Though Josephus tells of a famine in Judea in the period 
44-48 A. d. (Antiq., 20.2.5; 5- 2 > 3- 15.3), and though there is evidence of 
other local famines during the reign of Claudius (cf . Schurer, The Jewish People, 
etc., Div. 1, Vol. II, pp. 169, 170), there is no evidence of a universal famine, 
that is, universal in the Roman Empire. Moreover, it is improbable that Agabus, 
who, as a Christian, was concerned with the kingdom of God and with the world 
only as it was related to that kingdom, prophesied a universal famine. Had he 
announced such a famine, the disciples of Antioch must have been concerned 
to lay up money and food for their own need, of which, however, there is no 
trace. It is to be held, therefore, that Agabus foretold a famine for Judea, and 
that the language of Acts shows the influence of the fact that the reign of Claudius 
was marked by an unusual number of famines in different parts of the Empire. 

In regard to Paul's visit in Jerusalem at this time, the narrative seems, indeed, 
to be at variance with the letter of Paul to the Galatians, for while he there 
mentions various visits in Jerusalem, he does not mention this. Now Paul is, 
of course, our final authority on the events of his own life, and if it is plain that 
he was under obligation to mention all the visits that he made to Jerusalem 
before the time of the council, then we can not accept the narrative of Luke. 
But was he under such an obligation to his readers in Galatia? What was 
the point on which he was insisting in his letter? Nothing else than the inde- 
pendence of his apostleship (see, e. g., Gal. 1:1, 12). He was under obligation 
to mention all facts which might fairly be said to involve dependence or inde- 
pendence in his relation to the elder apostles. Beyond this his visits to Jerusa- 
lem had no bearing on the point in discussion, and hence we have no right to 
assume that he enumerates all his visits in the letter to the Galatians. What the 
argument requires is that he there mentions all his interviews with the Jeru- 
salem apostles. But plainly he may have gone to Jerusalem in 44 A. d. — that 
year in which one apostle was beheaded and another, the leader, thrown into 
prison — and may not have seen any of the twelve, to say nothing of having come 



I ARIA DAYS OF THE CHURCH IN ANTIOCH 83 

into such relation to any of them that he would feel obliged to mention the visit 
in his letter to the Galatians. Such we consider to have been the case. 

§ 59, The Persecution of Disciples in Jerusalem by Agrippa I.— 

Herod Agrippa I was a grandson of Herod the Great, and as he was 
54 years old at his death in a. d. 44 (cf. An/iq., 18. 8. 2), he was born 
10 B. C. Shortly before the death of Herod the Great, and so about 
the time of the birth of Jesus, he was sent to Rome to be educated, 
and there he passed more than two-thirds of his life. Soon after the 
death of Tiberius (37 A. D.), Agrippa was given the tetrarchies of 
Philip and Lysanias; in 39 or 40 A. d., the tetrarchy of Antipas was 
added ; and in 41 A. D. Claudius gave him Judea and Samaria. From 
that time to his death he ruled over the same territory which his 
grandfather had possessed. 

According to Josephus, Agrippa was a man of unbounded gen- 
erosity, and in consequence w r as habitually in debt. When he was 
made king and lived in Palestine, he was scrupulous in his obser- 
vance of the religious rites and customs of pharisaic Judaism. He 
was so good a Pharisee — probably from political policy rather than 
conviction, for among gentiles he lived as a gentile — that he was an 
enemy of the Christians. But just w T hen he had begun to persecute, 
sudden death overtook him at Caesarea. The account which Josephus 
{Antiq., 19. 8. 2) gives of the manner of Agrippa's death agrees in 
substance with that of Luke. Both writers regarded his death as a 
just judgment of heaven because he had not rejected the impious 
flattery that was paid him by the people. 

In the persecution that arose at Stephen's death the leaders 
escaped, but when Agrippa put forth his hand it was against the 
apostles themselves. James he killed, and Peter was destined to 
the same fate. He was put in prison, and w^as supposed to be se- 
curely guarded. When Agrippa was informed of Peter's escape, he 
examined the guards, apparently the entire sixteen, and commanded 
that they should be put to death. The natural inference from this 
procedure is that the king was satisfied that the guards had been 
criminally remiss in their duty. If we knew r what information his 
examination of the guards elicited, we might perhaps form a better 
idea of the character of Peter's deliverance. But even if it w T as shown 
that one or more of the guards were friendly to Peter and had secured 



84 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

his escape, his deliverance was still an event for which the church 
did well to thank God. 

The details of Luke's narrative in vss. 7-10 must be considered in the light 
of the significant statement in vs. 11. Here we have the same language that 
is used to describe Peter's restoration from the trance into which he fell on the 
house-top in Joppa. It is said that he "came to himself" after he had passed the 
iron gate. This implies that what had gone before was all as a dream to him. 
He could not explain it. How his deliverance had actually taken place he appa- 
rently did not know. What he knew was that he had been delivered from prison, 
and he saw in this the good hand of the Lord. 

After Peter had reported his deliverance from prison to his brethren 
who were gathered in the house of Mary, the mother of Mark, he 
departed, doubtless in the same night, to some place unknown to 
Luke, unknown also, it may be, to the friends of whom he took leave. 
The death of Agrippa which occurred soon after this event, and the 
establishment of a Roman procuratorship, doubtless made it safe for 
Peter to return to Jerusalem. 

§60. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) What was the 
mother-church of gentile Christianity? (2) Describe the location 
of Antioch and its rank in the Roman Empire. (3) What do we 
know about the Jews and proselytes in Antioch ? (4) What was the 
relation of Barnabas to the work in Antioch ? (5) What was Paul's 
relation to this work? (6) What year did they work together in 
Antioch? (7) By whom was the name "Christian" given? (8) 
By what names did Christians call themselves ? 

(9) What prophet came to Antioch while Paul and Barnabas 
were laboring there? (10) What was the result of his visit? (11) 
What reasons are there for thinking that he foretold a famine in 
Judea alone? (12) Does the mission of Paul to Jerusalem at this 
time conflict with what Paul says in Galatians ? 

(13) Who was Herod Agrippa I ? (14) Where did he spend the 
larger part of his life? (15) What territory did he receive from 
Caligula, and what from Claudius ? (16) How long did he rule over 
all Palestine? (17) What was his attitude toward the Jewish re- 
ligion? (18) How do the accounts of Josephus and Luke agree in 
regard to the death of Agrippa? (19) Why did Agrippa put the 
guards of Peter to death? (20) What is the suggestion of vs. 11 in 
regard to Peter's own knowledge of his deliverance ? 



EARLY DAYS OF THE CHURCH IN ANTIOCH 85 

(21) James was killed, Peter escaped and saved his life: does 
this show that one was under God's protecting care and the other 
was not ? In what sense can we adopt as our own the language of 
Ps. 91 ? 

§ 61. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Litera- 
ture. 

1. Write out in your own language the story of the founding of 
the first gentile Christian church. The following outline may be 
used: The royal city of Syria; the men who first preached Jesus in 
that city; the work of Paul and Barnabas there. 

2. Write a brief account of Herod Agrippa I. 

3. On Antioch read: 

Conybeare and Howson, Life and Epistles of St. Paul, 1:4; Josephus, Antiq., 
12.3. 1 ; Jewish War, 3.3.4; 7.3.3; and 1 Maccabees 11:41-51. 

4. Read and compare Acts 12:21-23 and Josephus, Antiq., 19. 8.2. 



CHAPTER X 

THE LIFE OF CERTAIN JEWISH-CHRISTIAN CHURCHES IN THE 
DISPERSION AS REFLECTED IN JAMES AND i PETER 1 

SYNOPSIS 

§ 62. Of the origin of James and 1 Peter 

§ 63. Of the new faith among the readers of James 

§ 64. Of the new faith among the readers of 1 Peter 

We leave now for a little time the narrative of Acts and the out- 
line of events contained in the letters of Paul, and seek what light 
the epistles of James and 1 Peter have to throw on the life of the early 
church. Paul disappears from our sight for the present, as do also 
the localities with which our history has thus far been associated. 
We come into a new atmosphere, if not into a wholly new geographi- 
cal environment. But before searching these letters for informa- 
tion regarding the church of their time we must take a brief survey 
of the documents themselves, their probable authors, readers, and 
dates of composition. 

§ 62. Of the Origin of James and 1 Peter. 

1) The conflict of present opinions. — Regarding the authorship, the date of 
composition, and the fundamental religious character of these two letters, as 
also in regard to the nationality of their readers, there is still among scholars 
a wide diversity of views. Thus, e. g., it is said that James was a pre-Christian 
Jewish writing with a thin Christian veneer (Spitta, Massebieau), or that it was 
a Christian writing from the early part of the second century, closely related 
to Clement of Rome and Hermas (Harnack, Jiilicher, von Soden); that it was 
addressed to Jewish-Christians of the Dispersion (Weiss), or that it was address- 
ed to the Christian world at a time when the Jewish element was no longer 
of any account (von Soden); that it is a true letter (Weiss), or that it is a form- 
less compilation of didactic fragments, prophecies, and words of judgment (Har- 
nack). 

In like manner there is a notable disagreement regarding 1 Peter. One 
regards the letter as dependent on James (Davidson), another makes James 

1 This volume makes use of the letters of the New Testament so far as they con- 
tribute to the history of the period. It does not aim to set forth their doctrinal content. 
Neither does it enter the field of New Testament introduction except in the case of 
documents regarding which there is no general consensus of scholars. 

86 



LIFE OF JEWISH-CHRISTIAN CHURCHES 87 

fifty years later (Harnack); it is said that it was written to Jewish Christians 
(Weiss), or to gentiles (Holtzmann, H. J.); that it was written by Peter (Bacon), 
or Silvanus (von Soden), or Barnabas (McGiffert), or perhaps Silas (Holtz- 
mann). It is held that if we leave out the first verse, it would be easier to hold 
Paul for the author than Peter (Harnack). It is said to have been written in 
the time of Domitian (von Soden), or possibly twenty-five years earlier (Harnack), 
or in the year 50 (Weiss). 

Of the two writings, the uncertainty of critics regarding the origin of James 
is greater than it is regarding the origin of 1 Peter, though even 1 Peter is a good 
deal tossed about as wt have just shown. 

2) The author of James. — No hypothesis regarding the authorship of this 
letter appears to be so free from objections as that which ascribes it to James, 
the leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 12:17; 15:13; Gal. 2:9). This 
James appears to have been highly esteemed by the Jews (cf. Josephus, Antiq., 
20.9. 1 ), for when Ananus, the highpriest, caused him, with others, to be stoned, 
the indignation of the best citizens was so great that Ananus lost his highpriest- 
hood. This James, by virtue of his position in the mother-church and his rela- 
tion to Jesus, could speak to the Jewish believers of the Dispersion, even to those 
who were not Christians, and be sure of a hearing. 

It seems to some utterly improbable that this Jew can have been the master 
of a fine Greek style, such as that of the letter, but even if this be granted, it in 
no wise precludes his virtual authorship. He doubtless had friends who were 
masters of Greek, if he was not. 

The fact that the letter says so little of Jesus, so little of the fatherhood of 
God and the kingdom of heaven, can not be regarded as at all conclusive against 
its authorship by James. For the little that it does say is exactly what we should 
expect. It conceives of Jesus as the Messiah, the author of the Christian faith, 
whose word is the law of liberty, and whose future coming is the goal of Chris- 
tian hope (2:1, 7; 5:7, 8; 1:25). Moreover, it has numerous echoes of the 
Sermon on the Mount. Its representation of Christianity as the culmination 
of the Old Testament religion is surely in accord with the view that it was written 
by the brother of Jesus. The letter thinks of God as the holy Father, unchange- 
able in goodness, who gives liberally to all who ask, and who looks on a man's 
life rather than his profession. The kingdom of heaven is for those who are 
rich in faith. Now these views surely belong to primitive Christianity, and 
therefore we should not lay too great emphasis orf the fact that they are not more 
prominent in the letter. It is not how often a man says a thing, but rather what 
he says and the way in which he says it, that enables us to judge of his position. 

The worldliness ascribed to the readers of the letter has been regarded as 
an argument that it can not have been written by James, but must have originated 
much later. But this argument does not appear to be very conclusive. The 
worldliness of certain members of the church at Corinth was quite as pronounced 
as that which James contemplated, yet we know that the letter was written 



88 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

between 50 and 60 A. d. Practical immorality, such as the letter of James 
deals with, is notoriously a plant of speedy de\elopment. 

3) The author of 1 Peter. — The opposition to the genuineness of this writing 
is less forcible than that which is urged against the genuineness of James. We 
will note the chief points. One is that the letter was written in Greek, while 
Papias (first half of the second century) tells us that Peter had Mark as an inter- 
preter. This is true, but Papias does not say in what language Mark served 
as an interpreter. It may have been Latin; but even if it had been Greek, 
that is no reason why the letter should not be Peter's. Were not the sermons 
which Peter preached through Mark Peter's own sermons? Would the letter 
be less truly his own, in its thought, if he had help as to its Greek form ? 

Again, it is said that the author, seeing that he was a genuine Paulinist, 
can not have been the apostle Peter, for he surely did not go to school to Paul. 
But is it quite sure that he was a Paulinist ? The points of agreement in thought 
and language between his letter and the letters of Paul 1 appear altogether natural 
when it is remembered that both Peter and Paul were eminent Christian dis- 
ciples who were alike competent to interpret and apply the gospel to the needs 
of men, and when it is also remembered that they lived and worked at the same 
time. It would be a remarkable phenomenon if their letters to Christian dis- 
ciples revealed no points of close similarity when dealing with the common 
themes of faith and life. Paul speaks of the living sacrifice of the bodies of 
believers as a reasonable or spiritual service. Now when Peter speaks of Christian 
teaching as reasonable or spiritual milk, and a little later speaks of offering 
spiritual sacrifice, must we conclude that he was borrowing from Paul ? 

And it is but fair to remember that while there are points of similarity between 
1 Peter and the letters of Paul, there are also fundamental differences. Thus, 
e. g., Paul's doctrine of Christ is in some points widely unlike that of 1 Peter, 
and Peter's references to the life, the sufferings, the resurrection, and the future 
revelation of the Lord are far more conspicuous than Paul's references to the 
same subjects. This line of argument, therefore, does not appear to be strong 
enough to endanger the claim of Petrine authorship. 

4) The readers of the letters. — The address of the letter of James is as broad as 
the Dispersion, that of 1 Peter is limited to five provinces in what we now call 
Asia Minor. It is not improbable, however, that the letter of James, though 
general in its address, took special account of the condition of Jewish believers 
in Syria and in the provinces Tfrhich are named in 1 Peter, for it appears to have 
been in this quarter of the Roman Empire that the gospel first took vigorous 
root among the Jews. To declare that these addresses are spurious is as arbi- 
trary as to say that their characterization of the readers must be taken figura- 
tively. The address of James, in so far as it points to Jewish readers, is in accord 

1 Holtzmann, Einleitung, p. 518, gives the following as the strongest parallels: 
Rom. 12:1 with 1 Pet. 2:2, 5; 12:2 with 1:14; 12:3-8 with 4:10, 11; 12:13 with 
4:9; 12:9 with 4:8; 12:17 with 3:9; 13:5 with 2:19; 13:12 with 2:1; 13:13 with 4:3. 



LIFE OF JEWISH-CHRISTIAN CHURCHES 89 

with the letter throughout, which nowhere presupposes that its readers are 
gentiles. The address of 1 Peter is objected to simply because it contains the 
name of Peter, not because it is inconsistent with the letter. 

The only serious objection to the view that both letters are addressed to 
Jewish believers outside of Palestine is the fact that we have no certain knowledge 
of the existence of groups of such believers in the Dispersion. We must, however, 
remember the exceedingly fragmentary character of our knowledge of the earliest 
spread of Christianity. If there were Christian Jews in Damascus before the 
conversion of Paul (Acts 8: 10, 13, 14), why may there not have been in Antioch 
of Syria, or in any of the great cities of Asia Minor, in all of which there were 
numerous Jews? There is nothing in the account of Paul's work in the cities 
of Asia Minor which precludes the possibility that there were Jewish Christians 
in that part of the world. 

5) Dates of composition. — James, "the righteous," was stoned in Jerusalem 
in 62 a. d., and Peter, according to very ancient tradition, perished in Rome 
during the Neronian persecution, 62-64 A - D - If, then, these men wrote the 
letters in question, we have one limit of the period in which they must have 
written them. There are, moreover, certain points in the letters which seem 
to favor a date considerably earlier than 62 A. d. Thus, in James, it is assumed 
that the Jewish believers addressed still met in the synagogue (2:2), though 
they had their own organization as a church with elders (5:14). Now, in view 
of the experience of believers in Jerusalem and the history of Paul's missionary 
work, this fact regarding a common use of the synagogues by believing and unbe- 
lieving Jews favors the period 40-50 a. d., rather than 50-60 a. d., as that in 
which the letter was w r ritten, assuming now, as we surely may (Acts 9, 10), that 
there were numerous converts among the Jews in the next decade after the res- 
urrection, 30-40 A. D. 

Again, the purely ethical character of the letter, the absence of any theo- 
logical material even in regard to Jesus, favors an early date. This is a feature 
that allies the letter with the Sermon on the Mount. It furnishes no means of 
setting an exact date for the composition, but it distinctly favors a relatively 
early date. 

It is doubtful whether the method in which James treats the relation of faith 
to works can be regarded as helping to settle the date of composition of his letter. 
The misconception regarding faith which it presupposes is certainly as old as 
the time of the great prophets of the Old Testament (see, e. g., Is. 1:11-17). 
The apparent divergence of the thought of James from that of Paul is accounted 
for by the different aims of the two writers, and does not seem to imply a literary 
dependence of the former upon the latter. 

In conclusion, a relatively early date for James is favored by the allusion to 
the anointing of the sick with oil and to the accompanying prayer of the elders, 
or of any fellow -believers (5:14, 16). For, on the one hand, it is plain that the 
elders are not thought of as an hieratic class, without whom healing was not 



90 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

possible. They are mentioned rather as the natural spiritual leaders of the 
Christian community, but it is also recognized that any believers can pray one 
for another, that they may be healed of their sicknesses. On the other hand, 
this passage points to a relatively early time, because the supernatural healing 
which was somewhat prominent in the first years of the Jerusalem church rapidly 
disappears as we leave those years behind. Later casss are sporadic in char- 
acter. Hence the instruction of James, which is quite general, favors an early date. 

In i Peter also there are some marks of time, indecisive, it is true, like those 
of James, and yet, when taken together, having an appreciable value. Thus, 
in the first place, as the readers are Jewish believers of the Dispersion in Asia 
Minor, and so, apparently the same, at least in part, as the readers of James, 
we may infer from the more favorable picture of them in i Peter that this letter 
was later than James, and that the condition of the readers had improved in the 
interval. It is to be recognized, however, that two men so widely unlike as 
Peter and James may have taken quite different views of the same people at one 
and the same time. 

Again, the fact that both Silvanus and Mark were with Peter at the time of 
the composition of his letter may have some bearing on the question of date 
(i Pet. 5:12, 13). We know that Silvanus was with Paul on his second mis- 
sionary journey (49-51 A. d.), and that Mark accompanied him for a time on 
his first journey (Acts 15:38). Now, in view of the sharp censure which Paul 
directed against Peter in Antioch shortly after the council in Jerusalem (Gal. 2: 
n), though this censure may have been received by Peter in good part and may 
not have alienated him from his brother apostle, it may still be regarded as a 
little more probable that these fellow -workers of Paul were with Peter before 
that event in Antioch rather than after it. 

Mention is to be made of one other point. Two of th^ five provinces in 
which the readers of 1 Peter dwelt belonged in Paul's missionary field, viz., 
Galatia and Asia. We know that soon after Paul's work in Galatia the question 
of the gentiles' relation to the law was hotly debated. Now the fact that the 
letter of Peter makes no allusion to this question appears to favor the view that 
it was not written while the question was at the front; for though the little circles 
of believers whom he addressed may have been distinct from the churches of 
Paul in those regions, they can hardly have continued long without being influ- 
enced by that which deeply stirred these churches; and therefore, assuming the 
genuineness of the letter, this fact points to a composition before Paul wrote to 
the Galati ns. 1 

It is idle to attempt to fix the exact date of the composition of James or of 
1 Peter, but the internal evidence appears to favor the early part of the fifth 
Christian decade for the composition of the former, and to put the latter before 
the composition of Galatians. 

1 This seems more probable than that the question ceased to be discussed before 
the death of Peter, so that he could have written even after the composition of Gala- 
tians without any allusion to it. 



LIFE OF JEWISH-CHRISTIAN CHURCHES 91 

§63. Of the New Faith among the Readers of James. — Like 
the converts of Paul in Corinth (1 Cor. 1 126-29), tne believers whom 
our letter contemplated were prevailingly "poor as to the world" 
(2:5), though not exclusively so (1:10). They were exposed to 
manifold trials (1:2), the chief of which were probably the oppres- 
sion which they suffered from the rich (2:6; 5:4), their being dragged 
to the judgment scats (2:7), and the occasional death of one of their 
number (5:6). As it was their rich countrymen who cited them 
before the tribunals, and as it seems to have been at such times that 
they heard the name of Jesus blasphemed, we see plainly that what 
took place was a repetition of what had occurred in Jerusalem when 
Paul was ravaging the church (Acts 8:9; 26:11). The tribunals 
were Jewish, and it was attempted to make believers blaspheme the 
name of Jesus. 

The ethical condition of the readers reveals various defects. 
There was hastiness of speech (1:19-21), there was a failure to act 
on the word of truth which they had heard (1:22-27), there were 
class distinctions (2:1-13), a tendency to sever faith from life 
(2 : 14-26), an inordinate ambition to shine as teachers (3: 1-18), and, 
worst of all, a worldly spirit (4:1 — 5:11). Now these defects, espe- 
cially the last, were obviously serious, and appropriately called forth 
serious words of rebuke and warning from James, but it is quite 
without warrant to represent the state of the readers as one of utter 
worldliness. The gravest of these defects were found in the Corin- 
thian church, and yet others even worse. 

But while there were serious moral defects among the readers of 
James, these must not be allowed to hide or obscure the virtues which 
also throve among them. It is not undeserving of notice that, while 
the letter speaks of the manifold trials of the readers, it does not inti- 
mate that any of them fell away from Christ because of these trials. 
On the contrary, it intimates that some of them endured martyrdom 
(5:6). Here then we see at least one bright beam of light across the 
picture. It is also to be noted that the author measured all defects 
by the ideal standard, and his ideal was so high that he declared a 
man's religion altogether vain who did not bridle his tongue and 
whose life did not accord with his profession. In view of these facts 
we may probably conclude that the readers of James were about the 



92 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

average Christians of their day, and not greatly unlike the average 
among us today. 

The new faith appears in James as an ethical force rather than 
an elaborate doctrine. It furnished an ideal of moral perfection, 
which was thought of as the consummation o] the old law, and it fur- 
nished a great motive in the future coming of the Lord. The father- 
hood of God and the messiahship of Jesus are in the background of 
the letter, but they are there as fundamental facts. The fatherhood 
is universal as in the gospel, and Jesus is thought of as the one who 
has taught us to believe in God. Christian faith is called the faith 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and this word, like Heb. 12:2, we under- 
stand to mean that the faith which Jesus exercised was the type of 
true Christian faith. Thus on these fundamental points, it is as- 
sumed that the position of the readers was that of primitive Chris- 
tianity. 

§ 64. Of the New Faith among the Readers of 1 Peter. — The 
message of 1 Peter, like that of James, is pre-eminently a message 
for those who suffer. The source of persecution was now no longer 
the Jewish fellow-countrymen of the readers, but it was the gentiles 
(2:12; 4:354:16). The ground or grounds of gentile hostility at 
the time when Peter wrote are indicated by him only in the most 
general manner. It was charged against his readers that they were 
"evil-doers," and this broad accusation is somewhat illuminated by 
two passages. The first suggests that the special form of evil-doing 
of which Christians were said to be guilty was disregard for rulers 
(2:13-17), and the second has the somewhat different suggestion 
that they were hated and spoken evil of because they refused to walk 
in " lasciviousness, lusts, wine-bibbings, revelings, carousings, and 
abominable idolatries." This ground, if the last item be excepted, 
points to a social separation of the believers from former compan- 
ions. The animus of the charge in this case was that the Christians 
by this separation of themselves from the practices and customs of 
others thereby tacitly condemned those practices and customs as evil. 
If by the "abominable idolatries" be meant an idolatrous regard 
for any earthly ruler, such as the worship of the images of the em- 
perors on the coins, then this passage has to some extent a political 
color. 



LIFE OF JEWISH-CHRISTIAN CHURCHES 93 

It is also thought possible by the author (4: 14, 16) that someof the 
readers may be reproached for the name of Christ, that is, simply 
because they bear this name, whether a charge of evil-doing is brought 
against them or not. From this passage it has been inferred by some 
writers that the letter can not have been written in the time of Nero, 
and by others that it was written in the time of Domitian. But it 
seems plain that as soon as the name "Christian" was coined (44 A. 
D.), believers may have been persecuted as Christians. The mere 
use of that name does not define the origin and nature of a particular 
persecution. Furthermore, there is no suggestion in 1 Peter that the 
trials to which the readers were exposed were due to the policy of the 
reigning emperor, and we have no right to make such an assumption. 

Now in their trials the readers were variously aided by the new 
faith. They were to consider that the very call to be Christians 
involved a call to suffering (2:21; cf. Matt. 10:16-39), and also that 
the endurance of suffering for righteousness' sake put them into the 
same class with Jesus (3:17, 18), made them partakers of his suffer- 
ings (4: 13), and so made them heirs of the spirit of glory and of God 
(4:14). Special stress is laid on the significance of fellowship with 
Christ's sufferings. His example in all his sufferings is an example 
to be followed by his disciples, and following that example out of 
regard for Jesus and in his spirit one is delivered from sin. 

Peter also encouraged his readers, as did James, with the thought 
that the end was at hand (4:7). After suffering a "little while," they 
would be perfected (5:10). Therefore they were to set their hope 
on the grace that was to be brought to them at the revelation of 
Jesus Christ (2: 13). 

Although the specific occasion of our letter was the trials to which 
the readers were exposed, we see into their life as Christians at an- 
other point which is worthy of notice. The letter assumes that 
there were "elders" among the readers in various places throughout 
the five provinces (5:1), though it does not refer to a church. These 
elders are described as the spiritual guides of the flock, who are to 
serve in love, having that authority which comes from a holy and 
attractive example. Bishops and deacons are not mentioned, neither 
is there allusion to meetings for worship. Peter assumes among his 
readers a knowledge of the life and death, the resurrection, and future 



94 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

coming of Jesus. He makes no allusion to any other source of this 
knowledge than the messengers who had brought to them the good 
tidings (i : 12, 25). He also assumes, as does James, that his readers 
are familiar with the Old Testament. 

§65. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) How widely 
divergent are the current views regarding the origin of James and 1 
Peter? (2) To what James are we to ascribe the letter of that name ? 
(3) What is to be said of the objection that James can not have written 
elegant Greek? (4) What of the fact that the letter says little of 
Jesus, of the fatherhood of God, and of the kingdom of heaven ? (5) 
Does the worldliness of the readers prove that the letter was written 
after the time of James? (6) Does the fact that Peter is said to have 
had an interpreter, while our 1 Peter was written in good Greek, prove 
that he was not the author of this letter? (7) What is to be said of 
the similarities between 1 Peter and the letters of Paul in their bear- 
ing on the authorship ? 

(8) To whom are James and 1 Peter respectively addressed? (9) 
What is the most serious objection to the view that both letters were 
written to Jewish believers of the Dispersion? (10) How is the ob- 
jection to be met? 

(11) When did James and Peter die? (12) What is there in the 
letter of James that points to a relatively early date? (13) What 
marks of time are found in 1 Peter? 

(14) To what social class did the readers of James belong? Of 
what nationality were they ? (15) To what trials were they exposed ? 
(16) Who persecuted them? (17) What were the moral defects 
of the readers? (18) What virtues did they show? (19) What 
type of Christian doctrine is suggested by the scanty doctrinal ref- 
erences in the letter? 

(20) Whence did persecution arise to the readers of 1 Peter? (21) 
Does the use of the name "Christian" indicate the source of the per- 
secution? (22) With what considerations did the author seek to sus- 
tain the readers in their trials? (23) What conception of elders is 
found in the letter ? 

(24) To what extent are the teachings of James appropriate to 
Christians of the present day? Name specific examples. 



LIFE OF JEWISH-CHRISTIAN CHURCHES 95 

(25) What teachings of i Peter impress you as of special value 
for men of today ? (26) What impression do you gain from these 
two letters as to the character of the Christians and the Christian 
life in the early apostolic age? (27) What does the reading of them 
suggest as to (a) the rate at which the Christian church is advancing 
from age to age; (b) our duty at this hour in reference to the progress 
of the church ? 

§ 66. Supplementary Topics and References to Literature. 

1. On the basis of a study of James write a short chapter on the 
life of the readers — their nationality, social position, trials, and 
Christian faith. 

2. On the basis of a study of 1 Peter write a similar short chapter 
on the life of its readers. 

3. Collect all the New Testament references to James the brother 
of Jesus, and add Josephus, Antiq., 20. 9. 1. 

4. On the use of Greek in Palestine in the first century see : 
Schiirer, The Jewish People, etc., Div. 2, Vol. I, p. 48. 



PART III 

THE PAULINE MISSION IN ASIA MINOR, MACEDONIA, 

AND GREECE 



CHAPTER XI 

PAUL'S FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY 
SYNOPSIS 

§67. Barnabas and Paul sent forth from Antioch. Acts 13:1-3 

§68. The work in Cyprus. Acts 13:4-12 

§69. In Pisidian Antioch. Acts 13:13-52 

§70. In Iconium. Acts 14:1-7 

§71. The work in Lystra and Derbe and the return to Antioch in Syria. 

Acts 14:8-28 

§ 67. Barnabas and Paul Sent Forth from Antioch, — When Bar- 
nabas and Paul returned from their mission to Jerusalem, whither 
they had gone with the offering from Antioch, they took with them 
John Mark (Acts 12:25), an d in this fact we have a suggestion that 
they were already contemplating such missionary labor as that on 
which they soon entered. The work in Antioch had been thoroughly 
established, and it was natural that the thought of Paul should be 
turning to new fields. He felt that he was called to preach to the 
gentile world (Rom. 1:5), not merely to one city or one province. 

The separation of Paul unto missionary work implies that, among 
the Christians in Antioch, no claim to apostleship had thus far been 
made by him. Had his fellow-laborers known that he considered 
himself an apostle and divinely ordained to work among the gentiles, 
it is hardly probable that they would have ventured to dedicate him 
to such work. Hence we must suppose that he had put forth no 
apostolic claim; doubtless there had been no occasion for it. The 
consciousness of apostleship was a secret of his own bosom, and we 
might never have heard about it from his own lips if his authority had 
not been attacked. There is no reason whatever to think that his 
dedication to missionary work had anything to do either with his 
claim to apostleship or with the bestowal of the title upon him. 

Barnabas and Paul were set apart not by the church in Antioch, 
but by other prophets, viz., Symeon, Lucius, and Manaen. While 
these five men were fasting on a certain occasion, and perhaps con- 

99 

LOfC 



IOO CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

templating their relation to the wide field, it was borne in upon 
Symeon, Lucius, and Manaen, by the Spirit, that Barnabas and Paul 
should be separated unto the work to which they had been "called," 
that is, as appears from what follows, evangelistic work in gentile 
lands. 

There was a good preparation for such a spiritual communication 
in the successful work which these two had already done in Antioch, 
which was largely a work among gentiles. The fitness they had 
shown for this work may well have convinced their brethren, that 
God would have them especially dedicated to it. And therefore, 
inasmuch as Barnabas and Paul were ready to go, these brethren 
laid their hands upon them after fasting and prayer, and so sent 
them forth. 

The dedication was solemn, as the work before them must have been recog 
nized as one of great magnitude and responsibility, but it was in no sense an 
ecclesiastical ordination (see Hort, Judaistic Christianity, p. 63). It established 
no official relationship between Paul and the church in Antioch. He was not 
supported or directed by it. He was as independent in his future work as he 
had been before he came to Antioch to assist Barnabas. But since the church 
m Antioch was in part his own creation, since also it was centrally located and 
of great importance, it was natural that he returned thither again and again 
during the years of his missionary labor. 

§ 68. The Work in Cyprus.— Barnabas was a native of Cyprus 
(Acts 4:37), and this fact may very likely have decided the mission- 
aries to go first to that island, especially as in going thither they would 
be moving toward the great center of the Roman Empire. The 
gospel had already been preached in Cyprus to some extent (Acts 
11:19), but how widely and with what success we do not know. 
Again, some of the men who had labored in Antioch before the 
arrival of Barnabas and Paul, and who had perhaps also labored 
with them, were Cypriote Jews, and hence there may have been 
among the Christians in Antioch a special acquaintance with the 
needs of Cyprus, which had something to do in determining the route 
of Barnabas and Paul. 

The missionaries probably walked from Antioch to its harbor 
Seleucia, sixteen miles distant, and there they took a boat for Salamis, 
the eastern port of Cyprus, which lay about 140 miles to the south- 
west. John Mark whom they took with them as an assistant in some 



102 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

capacity which is not defined, was a cousin of Barnabas (Col. 
4:10). 

Beginning their work in Salamis, Barnabas and Paul went through 
the whole island to Paphos, a distance of about 100 miles. This 
was the chief city of the island, and the residence of the proconsul. 
Luke says that they preached in synagogues, but makes no ref- 
erence to any contact with gentiles. This suggests what is con- 
firmed also by other evidence, that though Paul recognized himself 
as a missionary to the gentiles, he yet judged it wise always to begin 
work with the Jews, at least in every city where there was a Jewish 
community. We hear a note out of his missionary experience when 
he says of the gospel that it is God's power unto salvation to every- 
one who believes, to the Jew first and also to the- Greek. 

The single incident of the entire tour which Luke preserves is 
the meeting of the missionaries with the Roman proconsul Sergius 
Paulus, who summoned them to his presence. They appear to have 
met Bar- Jesus the sorcerer, who was with the proconsul, before they 
had audience with Sergius Paulus himself (Acts 13:6), and it is pos- 
sible that the proconsul heard of the missionaries through him. How- 
ever that may be, when they sought to present their message to Sergius 
Paulus, the sorcerer, fearing that the newcomers might supplant him 
in the favor of the proconsul, withstood them. This aroused the 
spirit of Paul, who denounced Elymas, and who, according to the 
narrative, spoke words of judgment that were straightway fulfilled 
in the temporary blindness of the sorcerer. When the proconsul 
saw what was done, "he believed, being astonished at the teaching 
of the Lord." 

His belief involuntarily reminds us of Simon the Samaritan. If the sorcerer 
was smitten with blindness at the word of Paul, the heathen procurator would 
naturally look upon Paul as a more powerful sorcerer. It seems probable, 
however, that the actual events have been somewhat obscured in transmission, 
perhaps were so obscured before Luke incorporated the story in his narrative. 
Smiting an opponent with physical blindness would have been an act without 
parallel either in Paul's experience or in that of any other apostle, though Peter 
had had even greater reason to call down judgment on Simon the Samaritan. 
The fate of Ananias and Sapphira was of quite a different order, as has been shown 
elsewhere. Moreover, it seems to be altogether contrary to the genius of the 
gospel to call in supernatural power for the overthrow of an antagonist. Jesus 



Paul's first missionary journey 103 

did not act in this wise, nor did he intimate that such a dangerous weapon might 
be wielded by his followers. He taught that when they should stand before 
governors and kings, they would have heavenly wisdom in utterance, not a 
power for destruction. Therefore it seems probable that the story of what 
took place in the presence of Sergius Paulus underwent modification as it was 
transmitted. 

Luke changes the name of his hero at this point in his narrative. 
Before this he had called him Saul exclusively, and after this he 
calls him Paul exclusively. The reason of the change is not known. 
It is not unlikely that Paul had both names from childhood, in ac- 
cord with a practice common among the Hellenists and not unknown 
among the Jews of Palestine (e. g., Acts 12:25), and that Luke intro- 
duced the Roman name at this point because Paul had now for the 
first time preached to a Roman official and had won him to disciple- 
ship. The work in Cyprus does not seem to have been attended 
with great success, for though Luke is in the habit of recording re- 
sults, he is silent here. 

§ 69. In Pisidian Antioch. — We do not know what deter- 
mined the route which the missionaries pursued from Cyprus. Per- 
haps, for the first stage of their journey, it was nothing more than 
the presence of a ship bound for the coast of Pamphylia. The 
voyage from Paphos to Perga is one of about 175 miles. At Perga no 
work seems to have been done, but it was here that Mark turned 
back. The reasons which led to this step were regarded by Paul 
as showing a decided unfitness for further missionary service (Acts 

15 : 37-4i)- 

The new stage in the journey of the missionaries was to Antioch 
in the highlands of Asia Minor, a distance of some 90 miles in a 
straight line from Perga, but much further than that by any traveled 
route. Antioch (modern Jalowadj), which Strabo describes as 
near Pisidia, was a Roman colony planted by Augustus, and con- 
sisted of veterans of the fifth Gallic legion. As a Roman colony it 
was not under the control of the governor of the province, but had 
its own senate and popular assembly. 

Of the details of the work in Antioch we know little, 1 though the 
outcome of it is clear. The address attributed to Paul is obviously 

1 If the church in Antioch be regarded as one of the "Galatian" churches (Gal. 
1:1), then we have a few dotails regarding the work there in the letter to the Galatian s. 



104 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

too short to be a verbatim report of what he said, and further, as a 
literary production, it points to Luke rather than to Paul. It is not, 
however, necessary to conclude that it is a free composition by Luke. 
The analogy of other addresses attributed to Paul is distinctly against 
this view. Since the thought of the address bears the stamp of Paul, 
we may hold that Luke worked with materials derived from a trust- 
worthy source. 

After the second Sabbath in Antioch, on which a great concourse 
of people was addressed, the majority of the Jews, moved by jealousy 
of this new faith which claimed to get on without the aid of Judaism, 
contradicted the missionaries and railed against them. This event 
was recognized by the missionaries as a signal that they should turn 
to the gentiles, which, accordingly, they did, laboring among them 
with such success that the word was spread abroad throughout the 
regions. The degree of their success maybe inferred from the bitter- 
ness of the hostility of the Jews, who did not rest until they had driven 
the missionaries out of their borders. In this act they secured the 
co-operation of the chief men of the city, that is to say, the Roman 
officials ; but on what ground the officials aided them we can only con- 
jecture. The circumstance that there were prominent female prose- 
lytes engaged in the movement against Barnabas and Paul shows 
that, though the proselytes generally furnished a receptive soil for 
the gospel, they were not by any means all carried away from Juda- 
ism by the new faith. 

§ 70. In Iconium. — What determined the course which the mis- 
sionaries took when driven from Antioch is quite unknown. They 
went southeast about 80 miles to Iconium, which, according to 
the Roman organization, was in Lycaonia, but which Luke, by 
implication (Acts 14:6), seems not to have regarded as Lycaonian, 
but probably as a city of Phrygia. Iconium was an important city; 
and as it was created a Roman colony in the reign of Claudius, it may 
have enjoyed this distinction when Paul and Barnabas preached the 
gospel in its synagogue. 

Luke's narrative makes the impression that the work in this city 
was even more successful than that in Antioch had been. Many 
Jews as well as Greeks believed, and this may explain why the mis- 
sionaries were not driven out of the synagogue, and why for a long 



Paul's first missionary journi v 105 

time they were able to speak boldly. It also shows how they may 
easily have become aware of the plan to stone them, and so were able 
to escape the wrath of their foes. 

§71. The Work in Lystra and Derbe, and the Return to Antioch 
in Syria. — About eighteen miles southwest of Iconium, near the 
modern village of Khatyn Serai, recent investigators have located 
the ruins of Lystra (J. R. Sterrett, Papers 0] the American School oj 
Classical Studies in Athens, Vol. Ill, p. 142; Ramsay, The Church 
in the Roman Empire, pp. 47-54), and sixteen miles to the southeast 
from Lystra, in the ruins of Boscla and Losta (Sterrett) or at Giide- 
lissin (Ramsay), they have discovered, as they believe, the site of 
ancient Derbe. 

There is no reference to a synagogue in Lystra or Derbe. The 
multitudes in Lystra, who were stirred up against Paul, were per- 
suaded by Jews from Antioch and Iconium. This would indicate 
that the Jewish element in these towns was slight, if, indeed, there 
was any at all. 

The first cure attributed to Paul in Acts is that of a cripple in 
Lystra, which appears to have been recorded by Luke because of its 
consequences. When the people saw what had been done, they 
concluded that Paul and Barnabas were gods, as the people of Melita 
argued, when Paul took no harm from the bite of the viper (Acts, 28:6). 
This was the pagan inference from a miracle, while the Jewish infer- 
ence was that the one who wrought the miracle was a prophet (e. g., 
John 9:17). The Lycaonians identified Barnabas with Zeus, perhaps 
because the worship of Zeus was especially cultivated among them 
(Acts 14:13), and naturally identified Paul with Hermes, the inter- 
preter and spokesman of Zeus. The cure of the cripple, inasmuch 
as it convinced the people that Paul and Barnabas were supernatural 
beings, was productive of evil rather than good, so far as the people 
themselves were concerned. 

A strong light is thrown, on the passionate opposition to Paul on 
the part of the Jews of Antioch and Iconium by the fact that they 
followed him to Lystra, and there, as they suppesed, killed him. 
They stoned him and dragged him out of the city. How Barnabas 
escaped their fury we are not told. Though Paul had been stoned, 
he had received no mortal blow : he had onlv been stunned and 



106 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

after a time, his enemies having apparently departed, he recovered 
consciousness, and was able to go forth the next day to Derbe. 
Here the missionaries labored for a considerable time, and made 
many disciples. No reference is made to the presence of Jews or to 
any opposition to the preaching of the gospel. From Derbe and 
Lystra came two converts whom we find associated with Paul in 
later years — Gaius, from Derbe, and Timothy, from Lystra (Acts 
16:1; 20:4). 

Derbe was the only one of the four Asiatic cities in which Bar- 
nabas and Paul had labored from which they departed in peace. What 
led them to face the peril of a return through the cities where they 
had been persecuted, instead of going on homeward through the pass 
of the Taurus Mountains, we can not tell. The only suggestion of 
the text is that they had heard of trials to which their young converts 
were exposed (Acts 14:22), and that they hoped by visiting them to 
confirm their souls and to promote their growth. To this end they 
appointed two or more elders in each church. When they reached 
Perga on their return journey, they stopped for a time and preached, 
with what results Luke does not say. From Attalia, the port of Perga, 
they sailed direct to Antioch. Why they went back, instead of con- 
tinuing at once their labors further west, whether it was to encourage 
the home church by the report of what had been accomplished among 
the gentiles, or to get rest, or because some rumor of the danger 
which threatened the church in Antioch had reached them, we do not 
know. 

This journey of Barnabas and Paul was full of physical hardship, 
of mental and spiritual labor. It was a long journey for those days, 
covering perhaps 1,400 miles of land and water. It had occupied, 
on a conservative estimate, three years. The tangible results were 
at least four churches in important centers, and the evangelization of 
large adjacent regions. These churches, though' having a Jewish 
element, were predominantly gentile, and, with the church at Antioch 
in Syria, measured the advance which Christianity had thus far made 
into the pagan world. 

§ 72. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) What sug- 
gests that Paul and Barnabas were contemplating a missionary tour 



PAUL'S FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY 107 

when they returned from Jerusalem? (2) What indicates that Paul 
had made no claim to apostleship during his work in Antioch ? (3) 
By whom and how were Paul and Barnabas set apart to the mission- 
ary work? (4) What was the nature of this dedication, and what 
sort of relation, if any, was established between the missionaries and 
the church in Antioch? (5) What circumstances may have led 
Barnabas and Paul to go to Cyprus ? (6) Among whom, Jews or 
gentiles, did the missionaries labor in Salamis ? (7) On what prin- 
ciple did Paul apparently proceed in approaching the gentiles ? 
(8) What do you think of the wisdom of this principle ? (9) Can you 
state it in general terms applicable today also ? (10) Describe the 
journey from Antioch to Paphos. (n) Describe how the proconsul 
was led to believe. (12) What reasons are there for thinking that 
the actual events may have been obscured in transmission ? (13) 
Why may Luke have changed the name of his hero after the event in 
Paphos ? 

(14) Locate Perga and give its distance from Paphos. (15) 
What did Paul think of Mark's return to Jerusalem? (16) Describe 
the journey from Paphos to Pisidian Antioch. (17) What w r as the 
political status of Antioch? (18) Why did the Jews of Antioch op- 
pose Paul? (19) What was the result of the labors of Barnabas and 
Paul in Antioch? 

(20) Locate and describe Iconium. (21) In what respect did 
the work differ from that in Antioch? (22) Where were Lystra and 
Derbe? (23) What and where was the first cure attributed to Paul 
in Acts? (24) What consequences did it have? (25) How was the 
persecution at length stirred up against Paul, and how did it result ? 
(26) Describe the work in Derbe? (27) What may have led the 
missionaries to go back to the cities where they had been persecuted ? 
(28) Why may they have returned to the Syrian Antioch? (29) 
Give a summary statement regarding the entire journey. (30) What 
characteristic did the missionaries manifest in their work on this tour ? 

§ 73. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Litera- 
ture. 

1. Write a chapter on Paul's first missionary journey, having, 
perhaps, the following outline: Consecration to the work, compan- 
ions, trials, and results, with a diagram showing the cities visited. 



io8 



CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 



(2) On thejpractice of sorcery read: 

Josjephus, Antiq., 8.2.5, and Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman 
Citizen, p. 78. 

3. For the view that the churches of Galatia were in south Galatia 
see : 

Weizsacker, The Apostolic Age, Vol. I, pp. 270 ff.; for other views, Gilbert, 
Student's Life of Paul, Appendix III. 




THE EMPEROR CLAUDIUS] 



CHAPTER XII 

PAUL'S SECOND SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH AND THE CONFERENCE 

IN JERUSALEM 

SYNOPSIS 

§ 74. The "false brethren" or judaizers. Acts 15:1; Gal. 2:3-5 

§ 75. The conference at Jerusalem. Acts 15:2-29; Gal. 2:1-10 

§ 76. Report of the compromise to the church in Antioch. Acts 15:30-35 

§ 77. Peter's visit to Antioch. Gal. 2:11-21 

£74. The " False Brethren" or Judaizers. — When Paul and 
Barnabas, after an absence of some three years, returned to Antioch, 
they found l the church agitated over the question of the relation of 
gentile believers to the law of Moses. This agitation had been 
brought on by certain legalists from Jerusalem, who, when they had 
spied out the liberty which gentiles had in Christ Jesus, declared 
that the observance of the law was necessary to salvation. There 
were undoubtedly some facts to which they as followers of Jesus 
could appeal with a show of reason. Thus they could say that he had 
never abrogated the law for his disciples, but, on the contrary, had 
spoken words that seemed to involve its perpetual observance. They 
could also point to his performance of various ceremonies and to the 
uniform practice of his apostles and of the mother-church in Jeru- 
salem. All this appeared to favor the view that the gentile converts 
could not ignore the Jewish law. If anyone had cited the case of 
Cornelius and his friends, whom Peter had received without subject- 
ing them to the yoke of the law, the judaizers might have replied 
that this was an exception, and only justified by the supernatural 
vision. 

x The imperfect iSLSaaicov, taught, in Acts 15:1 may be regarded as contemporary 
with the imperfect in 14:28, in which case the judaizers may not have anticipated Paul 
and Barnabas in reaching Antioch. It seems bstter, however, to define it by reference 
to the return of the missionaries, and to understand that they were engaged in such 
teaching, when Paul and Barnabas arrived; for if they had been on the ground with 
their story of God's wonderful work among the gentiles, it is doubtful whether the 
judaizers could have made any deep impression on the church. 

109 



IIO CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

These men from Jerusalem must have presented their view with 
great ability, else they could not have gained a favorable hearing 
from gentile Christians who had been nurtured in the freedom of 
Christ. It was inevitable that Paul and Barnabas should at once 
oppose this doctrine of servitude to the law, and natural that the 
church thought of a conference with the apostles and elders regarding 
the matter. The appointment of Barnabas and Paul as leaders of 
the committee to visit Jerusalem indicates how the majority of the 
church looked at the proposition of the judaizers. 

§ 75. The Conference at Jerusalem. — The word "council," often 
applied to the gathering in Jerusalem, is objectionable in so far as 
it suggests an ecclesiastical body with power to legislate. The gather- 
ing was simply a friendly conference of a younger church with an 
elder one. And the younger church acted on its own initiative: it 
was not summoned to appear at Jerusalem, by delegates, for the 
settlement of the question in dispute. It did not assume that the 
church in Jerusalem had any other authority than such as belonged 
to the wisdom and the experience of its individual members. 

The real question at issue was whether the statutes of the Old 
Testament law were of permanent and universal authority, a part of 
the will of God for all men and all time, and so a vital part of 
Christianity. The precise question in which this great problem took 
form at the moment was whether gentile Christians must be cir- 
cumcised. 

The conference in Jerusalem was important for the immediate 
future. Paul himself recognized this for he said that he laid his 
gospel before the leaders in Jerusalem, "lest by any means I should 
be running or had run in vain" (Gal. 2:2). These words indicate 
that he deeply desired the approval of the leaders of the Jerusalem 
church, fearing that their opposition might hinder the accomplish- 
ment of that which he had in view. At the same time he emphati- 
cally declared that those leaders "imparted nothing to him," that is, 
gave him no new authority or in any wise altered his relation to the 
gentile mission. 

We have two accounts that treat of the conference in whole or in part, 
viz., Acts 15 and Gal. 2:1-10. In his letter to the Galatians Paul speaks of a 
private meeting with the leaders of the church, and of no other. At this con- 



Paul's second sojourn in antioch i i i 

ferencc his work was recognized as no less divinely appointed than that of Peter, 
and he received the right hand of fellowship from James and the two foremost 
apostles. Paul tells us that his work was recognized by these men because 
they saw that it had manifestly been owned of God -the same argument, that 
prevailed when Peter's course in Ca^sarea was called in question As an illus 
tration of hi? gentile mission, he had taken Titus along with him to Jerusalem, 
somewhat as Peter, at an earlier day, had taken his friends from Joppa, who 
could testify that the Spirit had been poured out upon the Gentiles who heard 
the gospel in the house of Cornelius. As God had manifestly accepted Titus, 
though uncircumcised, Paul could maintain that he should not now be circum- 
cised to gratify the advocates of the law. 

In Acts, we hear nothing of a private meeting or of Titus, but only of a public 
gathering at which, after the Pharisaic believers had been heard and Peter had 
spoken, Barnabas and Paul rehearsed what signs and wonders God had wrought 
through them, and James brought the discussion to a close with a proposition 
acceptable to the whole church. That the matter was brought before the church 
as a whole, and not merely before the leaders in a private manner, and that the 
opponents of gentile freedom had an opportunity to speak, is surely probable, 
nor does such a meeting conflict with Galatians. A private conference with 
the apostles and elders may well have preceded the general gathering. The 
words ascribed to Peter and James at this gathering accord with all that we know 
about the men. Peter was the first to speak, and he appealed to his experience 
in the home of the gentile Cornelius. James, whom Paul mentions as the first 
of the three " pillars" of the mother-church, appropriately closed the discussion. 
The proposition attributed to him in Acts suits what we know of his religious 
position. It included three or four of the seven so-called Noachian prohibitions, 
whose observance by gentiles was a condition of intercourse between them and 
Jews (Schurer, The Jewish People, etc., Div. 2, Vol. II, p. 318). These pro- 
hibitions are (1) to abstain from pollutions of idols, such as eating sacrificial 
meat; (2) to abstain from fornication, that is, probably from the intermarriage 
of near relatives; (3) to abstain from that which has been strangled; and (4) 
to abstain from blood. 

The decision of the council was against the necessity of circum- 
cision for the gentile Christians, and thus in effect in favor of Paul's 
contention that the law was not to be imposed upon gentile Chris- 
tians. The prescriptions which gentile Christians were requested 
to observe were simply a basis of social intercourse with their fellow- 
believers of Jewish descent. Without some such regulations the new 
Christian faith would have been offensive in the eyes of the Jews. 
But they did not in any wise affect, nor were they claimed to affect, 
their standing before God. If these observances had been regarded 



112 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

as a stigma on gentile believers, it would hardly have been said in 
Acts that the church in Antioch "rejoiced for the consolation" (Acts 
15:31). And it is plainly impossible to suppose that James, who, 
according to Galatians, had already endorsed Paul's work, went be- 
fore the church and proposed a measure that put any dishonor upon 
the gentile believers. 

Luke calls the terms of the document which was sent back to 
Antioch "decrees" (Soy para) (Acts 16:4), but this must not be 
misunderstood. The prohibitions which James proposed were ne- 
cessary if there was to be free fellowship between the gentile and the 
Jewish believers. Their observance by the gentiles was the price 
they must pay for this Christian fellowship. The measure, there- 
fore, was a compromise. It is plain that it belonged in the sphere 
of the unessential, and that the liberty of the gentile believers in 
regard to the law of Moses was not lessened. The aim of the 
judaizers was completely repudiated by the mother-church. The 
"decrees" did not touch the specific question which the church in 
Antioch had brought to Jerusalem. That question was answered 
in the right hand of fellowship which the leaders gave to Barnabas 
and Paul. The decrees were simply in the interest of fellowship. 

§ 76. Report of the Conference to the Church of Antioch. — The 
proposition of James was embodied in a letter and sent to An- 
tioch by the hand of Judas and Silas with Barnabas and Paul. 
The church in Antioch, presumably Jews as well as gentiles, "rejoiced 
for the consolation." They were glad that their position was ap- 
proved by the elder church. There is no indication that the gentiles 
considered it a hardship to comply with the terms of the letter re- 
garding fellowship. 

According to Luke, this letter was intended for gentile Christians in Syria 
and Cilicia as well as for those in Antioch, and he says that when Paul and Silas 
went through those parts on the second missionary journey, they delivered it 
to the churches (Acts 15:23; 16:4). It is to be observed, however, that Paul 
never referred to it in any letter, and never gave his gentile converts instructions 
similar to those of the decree. On the contrary, he told the Corinthians that 
they might eat meat that had been offered to idols, unless such an act were liable 
to cause a brother to stumble. Probably he took the same attitude toward 
the other prohibitions, which were all ceremonial in character. The fact that 
Paul never refers to the decrees in his letters may indicate that they did not prove 



pail's second sojourn in antioch 113 

to be of practical value. There was certainly nothing in them, however, which 
was not also involved in Paul's principle to become a Jew to the Jews. 

§ 77. Peters Visit to Antioch. — Having returned from Jeru- 
salem to Antioch, Paul continued there for a time, perhaps to counter- 
act the impression made by the judaizers and to promote the peace- 
ful co-operation of gentiles and Jews with the church. During this 
time Peter visited Antioch, an indication that the gentile mission was 
a matter of great interest to Christians in Jerusalem. Peter found 
Jewish believers eating with gentile believers; and he did the same. 
This point had not been discussed at Jerusalem so far as our records 
inform us, and from the compromise adopted there it was possible to 
draw contrary inferences in regard to Jewish believers sitting at 
table with gentile disciples. One might, on the one hand, infer that 
the gentile's freedom from circumcision carried with it freedom from 
all the statutes of the law, and thus that a Jewish Christian was at 
liberty to eat at a gentile's table. But, on the other hand, one might 
insist that the letter of the compromise at Jerusalem was not to be 
transcended, at least not by Jews, that the gentile's release from the 
necessity of circumcision did not mean at the same time the Jew's 
release from his own ceremonial law. 

It is plain from Peter's embarrassment and subsequent action 
that the decree had not been interpreted in Jerusalem to mean that 
the Jewish believers might eat with gentile Christians, that is, that 
all ceremonial distinction between them was done away. It is also 
plain that Paul had so interpreted it, for the Jews of the Antioch 
church were eating with the gentiles (Gal. 2:13). Peter, then, was 
placed in a difficult position by the arrival of believers from Jeru- 
salem who held with James. If he continued eating with the gentiles, 
he would separate himself from his brethren in Jerusalem; if he with- 
drew from this form of fellowship, he would surely alienate some of 
his brethren in Antioch, though perhaps he did not anticipate the 
sharp reproof of Paul. In this situation Peter yielded to the pressure 
from Jerusalem, the pressure of all his past life, and retreated from 
the high position which his Christian feeling had led him to take. 
His example prevailed with the Jewish element of the church, and 
even Barnabas was moved to take the same stand. The unity of 
the Jewish- Christian body, which had been threatened by their recent 



114 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

liberal action, now weighed more in their estimation than the matter 
of perfect fellowship with the gentile believers. 

Paul looked upon this step of Peter as a failure to walk according 
to the truth of the gospel, that is, as a serious moral fault; to him it 
meant in effect an attempt to compel the gentiles to live as did the 
Jews, and that justification by works of the law would take the place 
of justification by faith in Christ. In other words, Paul treated 
Peter's act as belonging to the sphere of fundamental principles. 
Peter, of course, had not considered it in this light. He probably 
had no desire to compel the gentiles to live as did the Jews, conform- 
ing to the law. Nor had he any thought of seeking justification save 
through faith in Christ. It was to him, doubtless, a question of 
Christian expediency, and nothing more. * 

What effect Paul's words had on Peter we do not know. There 
is no proof that they embittered him. Barnabas was in the same 
position as Peter, and he was not alienated from Paul by what he 
had said. But there can be no doubt that from this time the issue 
between gentile and Jewish Christianity was more sharply drawn. 
Paul had made his position clear, that no Christian believer, Jew or 
gentile, is under the law. If any one claimed that the decree of 
Jerusalem implied this, then it is plain that Paul must have rejected 
that decree. To him the question at issue was nothing less than that 
of the ultimate basis of religion. Is it physical or moral and spiritual ? 
If Paul regarded the action of Peter and the view of those who came 
down from James as giving the authoritative interpretation which 
the apostles and elder brethren put upon the decree, it is certain 
that he did not deliver it to the churches which he had founded 
(Acts 16:4). 

§ 78. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) Who were 
the "false brethren" ? (2) What show of reason had they for their 
position ? (3) How did the church seek to settle the question ? (4) 
What was the nature of the conference in Jerusalem ? (5) Did Paul 
regard it as important ? (6) What accounts have we of the confer- 
ence ? (7) What was the character of the meeting according to 
Galatians ? What argument prevailed and what was the outcome ? 
(8) What was the character of the meeting according to Acts, and 



Paul's second sojourn in antioch 115 

who were the speakers ? (9) What argument did Peter advance ? 
(10) What was the proposition of James ? (11) In what sense was it 
"necessary"? (12) Did it concern the fundamental question that 
had agitated the church of Antioch? (13) Where and how was 
that question answered ? 

(14) How was the letter of the Jerusalem, conference received at 
Antioch? (15) When Peter came down to Antioch, what relation did 
he find subsisting between Jewish and gentile believers? (16) What 
did he do? (17) Was this consistent with the Jerusalem interpre- 
tation of the decree? (18) How is the act of Peter to be explained? 
(19) What effect did his example have ? (20) In what light did 
Peter's step appear to Paul? (21) What effect did Paul's words 
have on Peter? (22) What was the nature of the real underlying 
issue in all this controversy ? (23) Who saw most clearly what was 
involved in it ? (24) Which side do you judge was really in the 
right? (25) How r do you account for the difference between Peter 
and Paul on this point ? Did they disagree fundamentally, or did one 
see more clearly than the other what was really involved in the 
discussion ? (26) Paul stands forth in the narratives clearly de- 
fending the freedom of Christians from the statutes of the law and 
a purely spiritual idea of religion. Did Peter really disagree with 
this view, or only hold to it less consistently through lack of clear 
perception of what it involved? (27) Who were the real opponents 
of Paul's view? 

§ 79. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Litera- 
ture. 

1. Write a chapter on the trouble that arose in the church of 
Antioch in reference to the observance of the Jewish law, and how 
it was settled. 

2. On the general subject of Paul's conflict with the judaizers read : 
McGiffert, The Apostolic Age, pp. 192-234. 

3. On the relation of Acts 11:27-30 and Acts 15 to Gal. 2 sec* 
Gilbert, Student's Life of Paul, pp. 86-94. 



CHAPTER XIII 

PAUL'S SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY 

SYNOPSIS 

§80. The discussion between Paul and Barnabas. Acts 15:36-40 

§81. The churches in southern Asia Minor revisited. Acts 15:41 — 16:5 

§82. The vision in Troas. Acts 16:6-10 

§83. The work in Philippi. Acts 16:11-40 

§84. In Thessalonica. Acts 17:1-9 

§85. In Bercea. Acts 17:10-15 

§86. In Athens. Acts 17:16-34 

§87. In Corinth. Acts 18:1-1 8a 

§88. The return to Antioch. Acts 18:186-230 

§ 80. The Discussion between Paul and Barnabas. — When John 
Mark left Paul and Barnabas at Perga in Pamphylia, he returned 
to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13), but later, as appears from Acts 15:37, 
came to Antioch. What motive had brought him thither we do 
not know. It is possible that, when Barnabas was in Jerusalem at 
the conference, he suggested to Mark that he should hold himself in 
readiness for another missionary journey. At any rate, Mark was in 
the Syrian capital when Barnabas summoned Paul to revisit the 
churches which they had founded. Barnabas wished to take Mark, but 
Paul refused on account of his conduct on the former trip. The 
contention was so sharp that the old friends and co-laborers separated. 
Barnabas went to Cyprus, taking Mark; and Paul chose Silas as his 
companion, one of the two delegates from the Jerusalem church to 
the brethren in Antioch. But this alienation of Paul and Barnabas 
was not permanent, neither was Paul's feeling of antipathy toward 
Mark. In his letter to the church at Colossae, he sent a salutation 
from Mark (Col. 4:10), and commended him by saying that he was 
a cousin of Barnabas. Thus the Colossians were assumed to be 
acquainted with Barnabas, which fact in turn suggests that Barna- 
bas may have worked there, or in the immediate neighborhood. 
But in that case he was probably on friendly terms with Paul, for it 
was Paul who introduced the gospel into the province of Asia, in 

n6 



paul's second missionary journey 117 

which Colossa? was located. Again the manner in which Paul 
refers to Barnabas in the first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 9:6) is 
hardly consistent with the view that the disagreement over Mark 
led to permanent alienation. 

§81. The Churches in Southern Asia Minor Revisited. — It is 
to be noted that when Paul left Antioch on what proved to be the 
second great missionary tour, there was no plan to enter new fields. 
His proposition to Barnabas was that they should visit the brethren in 
every city in which they had proclaimed the word of the Lord. In 
going through Syria and Cilicia he was on the ground where he had 
labored before he went to the help of Barnabas in Antioch in the 
year 44 A. D. (Gal. 2:21). Then, having crossed the Taurus Moun- 
tains, he came to Lystra and Derbe, probably also to Iconium and 
Antioch of Pisidia, though Luke does not mention these cities by 
name. If Paul delivered the "decrees" of the Jerusalem confer- 
ence to the various churches which he visited in southern Asia 
Minor, as Luke reports, two things are certain: first, it is certain, 
in view of what had happened in Antioch on the occasion of Peter's 
visit, that he interpreted the decrees as placing no obstacle in the way 
of the Jewish and gentile believers eating together; and second, that 
he reported the more important part of the Jerusalem conference, 
viz., that the leaders of the mother-church had fully recognized his 
mission to the gentiles. 

§82. The Vision in Troas. — When Paul had completed his tour 
of the churches, naturally at Antioch, he thought of going right on 
west into the Roman province of Asia, whose capital, Ephesus, 
was about 200 miles distant. But as he meditated on this course, 
he became convinced that it was not God's will that he should preach 
in Asia at that time. On what ground this conviction was based we 
have no means of determining. Then Paul and his two fellow- 
laborers — for he had taken Timothy from Lystra as he passed through 
that place (Acts 16 : 1-3) — turned to the northwest, and passed through 
some part of Phrygia and Galatia. Luke does not indicate that 
they made any stop in these regions. If the view be correct that the 
churches of Galatia (Gal. 1:2) were in the territory which was so- 
called because of its Gallic population, then it must have been on 
this trip that Paul founded them (Gal. 4:12-4). It is somewhat 




Il8 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

surprising that Luke, if he had knowledge of this work, did not 
mention it, and yet after all it is in keeping with the character of his 
narrative. For it is certain that he gives us only fragments and 
outlines. He does not mention the Arabian sojourn or the long work 
in Syria and Cilicia. The work in Galatia may have occupied but 
a few weeks, and Luke may have omitted any reference to it — assum- 
ing now that he knew of it — because it did not mark a forward step 
in the progress of the gospel toward the metropolis of the world. 

From the letter to the Galatians it appears that Paul had not 
planned to preach in Galatia, 1 but was led to do so by an infirmity 
which detained him (Gal. 4:13), a statement which it is hard to 
harmonize with the view that the churches of Galatia were those of 
Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, for Luke's narrative of the 
founding of these not only makes no allusion to any sickness of Paul, 
but seems to exclude the possibility of any serious illness, and it also 
makes the impression that the tour was planned, at least in a general 
way. The Epistle to the Galatians informs us further that Paul had 
been received by the readers as an " angel of God, even as Christ 
Jesus," and it is a little difficult to see how he could have used such 
strong language in regard to his reception in Antioch, Iconium, 
Lystra, and Derbe. But we will not pursue the question further. 
Some references to the literature of the subject are given at the close 
of the chapter. 

According to Luke, the second field which Paul sought to enter 
was Bithynia, a Roman province lying on the Black Sea. But again 
it was made plain to him that he was moving contrary to the divine 
will, and so he turned to the west. As Mysia, into which he now 
came, was a part of the province of Asia in which he had already 
been forbidden to preach, he passed by it, that is to say, he did not 
stop to labor there, but kept on to Troas. It appears, then, that at 
this time as he entered Mysia, if not before, Paul must have had 

1 At this period the term Galatia was used to designate either (a) a district in the 
center of the peninsula of Asia Minor, in which certain tribes of Gallic blood had long 
since settled and become the dominant element of the population, or (b) the Roman 
province of Galatia, which included the district above named and much additional 
territory on the south and southwest in which were cities visited by Paul on his first 
missionary tour. The question in which sense Paul uses the word Galatia is one on 
which seriolars of repute are divided. 



PAULS SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY 119 

Europe in mind, for he knew that when he had once crossed Mysia 
he would arrive at the sea. 

The vision which Paul had in Troas was unlike the supernatural 
intimations regarding his course which had recently come to him, 
for those had been negative in character but this was positive. What 
preparation there had been for the vision the narrative does not 
suggest. Paul may have become acquainted with a Macedonian in 
Troas, possibly with Luke himself, 1 who told him of the need in his 
country and of the wide opportunity for the gospel. 

83. The Work in Philippi. — Paul's mind was thoroughly deter- 
mined by the vision, and he lost no time in setting out for Macedonia, 
in particular for its chief city Philippi. He took ship to Neapolis, a 
distance of about 140 miles, which was reached the second day (cf. 
Acts 20:6), and then a walk of ten miles brought him to Philippi, the 
first Macedonian city as they went inland frcm Neapolis, and, accord- 
ing to Luke, the most important city of the province. It had been 
made a Roman colony by Augustus, 42 b. c. 

The Jewish population in Philippi seems to have been small, as 
the narrative does not mention a synagogue, and as those who were 
gathered in the "place of prayer," 2 to whom Paul spoke the word, 
were entirely women. 

The first European convert was not a Macedonian, but a woman 
from Thyatira in the province of Asia. She appears to have been a 
person of some means, for she had a house or lodgings in which she 
entertained Paul and his three companions. How many others 
besides Lydia were led to faith in Jesus the narrative does not 
indicate. Paul's work continued for many days without interrup- 
tion, and the converts, whether many or few, became the nucleus 
of a church of which Paul said a few years later that it was his joy 
and crown (Phil. 4:1). The mission of Paul was at length 
interrupted by gentiles whose business was thereby injured. 

1 The student will notice that with the tenth verse the narrative begins to use 
the first person. Thus we come here to the beginning of the diary which is ascribed 
to Luke. 

2 The term here used, irpoaevx'n, might denote a building for worship (Josephus, 
Vita, 54), perhaps not different from a synagogue (Schiirer, The Jewish People, etc., 
Div. 2, Vol. II, p. 69), but here it probably denotes a place in the open air. 



120 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

A certain maid with a spirit of divination, who appears 1 to have 
been a slave, or, at any rate, to have sold her services, was much im- 
pressed by the missionaries and testified in public that they were 
servants of the most high God. She followed them, apparently to 
the place of prayer, and continued to do this for some days. We 
must assume that her motive in this procedure was friendly, and we 
can not suppose that what she said was in itself offensive to Paul. 
Only he was troubled that this testimony should come from one who 
was possessed by a spirit. The case was somewhat parallel to that 
of the demoniacs in the gospels who recognized the messiahship of 
Jesus. Paul treated it in the same way that Jesus treated the de- 
moniacs, and summoned the spirit to come forth. His word was 
effectual, for the maid ceased from soothsaying. Judging from her 
previous attitude toward Paul and his message, it is not too much to 
suppose that she became a disciple. 

When the owners of the maid were convinced that she had lost 
her power, they haled Paul and Silas before the magistrates (praetors) 
on the double charge that they were a disturbing element in the city 
and that they set forth customs unlawful for a Roman to observe — an 
appeal to the pride of the citizens of Philippi in those rights that be- 
longed to them as citizens of a Roman "colony." The accusers did 
not fail to say that the missionaries were Jews, thus appealing to a 
widespread popular hatred. Their reference to customs unlawful 
for Romans was probably based on a misunderstanding of what 
Paul had said of Jesus as messiah and king. 

As a mob had gathered and were clamoring against Paul and Silas, 
the magistrates, ^without waiting for any examination, commanded 
that they should be beaten with rods, and then cast them into prison. 
Perhaps this would have been prevented if Paul and Silas had de? 
clared their Roman citizenship (cf. Acts 22 125), but for some reason 
they did not do this. 

The night spent in prison was full vi remarkable incidents. The 
most significant of these for the history of Christianity was that the 
missionaries sang hymns of praise to God at midnight. The joy of 

1 Luke says that the spirit in her was a "python," a Greek designation of a ven- 
triloquist. She had also the gift of soothsaying (fMaprevo/x^vr}), hence was doubly 
endowed. 



paul's second missionary jourm.v 121 

the new faith, the joy of serving Jesus and helping to build up his 
kingdom, made them unmindful of their cruel sufferings and found 
expression in loud hymns of praise. The occurrence of an earth- 
quake in consequence of which the prison doors were opened and 
the bonds loosed which had been fastened in the walls, was regarded 
at that time as supernatural. At present, while we do not hesitate 
to say that the Lord delivered them out of prison, we may not think 
of the mode of deliverance as Luke and his generation did. The 
dramatic incident of the jailer's rescue from suicide and subsequent 
conversion illustrate both the quickness of Paul and the effectiveness 
of his preaching of the gospel. 

It was probably an expression of the sober second thought of 
the magistrates that they sent in the morning to have the prisoners 
released. They knew that their hasty course had been unlawful, and 
when the pressure of the mob had been removed, they decided to 
set the prisoners at liberty. But the sergeants brought back word 
that the men were Roman citizens and that they insisted on being 
released by the magistrates in person. This was accordingly done, 
and the magistrates asked them to go away from the city. After a 
farewell meeting with the brethren in the house of Lydia they 
complied with this request. 

Thus the work in the first European field, which had begun 
quietly in a little company of devout women, ended with violence 
and suffering, as had been the case in three out of the four Asiatic 
cities in which Paul had labored on his first missionary journey. 

§ 84. In Thessalonica. — The narrative of Paul's movements as 
he left Philippi is continued in the third person, and therefore it may 
be held that the one who had joined him in Troas, who was the author 
of the "we-passages," 1 remained in Philippi. Perhaps this was his 
home. 

From Philippi the missionaries followed the Egnatian road a 
distance of 33 miles to Amphipolis, the capital of one of the four parts 
into which the Romans divided Macedonia. This was southwest of 
Philippi on the Strymon River about three miles from the ^Egean 
Sea. A two days' walk from Amphipolis westward along the same 

X .A name applied to those parts of Acts in which the narrative is told in the first 
person. 



Paul's second missionary journey 123 

great Roman highway brought them to Thcssalonica. Why they 
passed through the centrally located and important city of Amphi- 
polis and the town of Apollonia without preaching the gospel we are 
n t told. It is possible that there was no Jewish colony in either city, 
and Paul, though he was the apostle of the gentiles, made it his rule 
to work outward from the synagogue through the proselytes. 

Thcssalonica, situated on the northeast side of the Thermaic 
Gulf, was at first the capital of the second division of Macedonia, 
and since the year 44 A. d. had been the seat of government of the 
entire province. It bore the title of metropolis, and was independent 
in its administration. Here there was a Jewish synagogue, a con- 
siderable Jewish population, and many proselytes from the better 
class of citizens. Hence it offered to the missionaries a favorable 
opening for their work. Luke says that they continued three weeks 
in the synagogue; and if we had no other references to the visit we 
should conclude that the riot which occasioned their departure came 
at the end of these three weeks. There are, however, certain facts 
that indicate a stay in Thessalonica of considerably more than three 
weeks. Thus we learn that Paul was there long enough for his con- 
dition to be reported in Philippi and for aid to be sent from that 
church on two separate occasions (Phil. 4:16). Again, in his first 
letter to the Thessalonians, he spoke of having worked day and night 
while among them, that is, worked for his own support that he might 
not burden them. But if he twice received aid from Philippi, it 
seems hardly probable that it would have been necessary for him to 
labor day and night unless he stayed more than three weeks in the 
place. 

The result of Paul's labors in Thessalonica was, according to Acts, 
the conversion of some Jews and a " great multitude" of devout 
Greeks. The overwhelming predominance of the gentile element 
may have made it natural that, in his letters to the Thessalonians, 
Paul should address them as former gentiles, making no special 
reference to a Jewish element (1 Thess. 1:9). 

It is not necessary to see any serious divergence between Acts and the first 
Thessalonian letter in regard to the persecution which the missionaries suffered 
in Thessalonica. The letter does not allude to the Jews as having had part in 
this persecution, while according to Acts they were ring-leaders. This latter 



124 



CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 



statement appears altogether probable from what we know concerning the atti- 
tude of the Jews toward Paul elsewhere. At the same time, Luke's account allows 
us to think that the great majority of those who assaulted the house of Jason were 
Greeks, and therefore it is not at variance with the letter. 

At the time of the assault on the house of Jason, who, to judge 
from his name, was a Macedonian, Paul and his fellow- laborers 




THE SO-CALLED "ARCH OF CONSTANTINE" IN THESSALONICA 

(Erected in the First or Second Century a. d., torn down in 1876) 



were his guests, though fortunately not in the house. Therefore 
Jason and certain other disciples were taken before the rulers, and 
were obliged to give "security," that is, put down a money deposit 
as a pledge that the missionaries would cause no further disturbance. 
Possibly they promised the rulers that Paul should depart from the 
city. At any rate that is what Paul immediately did in corripaTTy 



Paul's second missionary journey 



I2 5 



with Silas. Timothy remained for a time, and then followed Paul 
to Beroea (Acts 17:14). 

Though Paul's work in Thessalonica was broken off by persecu- 
tion, he had been the means of creating a vigorous Christian com- 
munity, which soon became an example to all believers in Macedonia 
and Achaia | iThess. 1:7, 8; 4:10). Two members of this church 
accompanied Paul on his last visit to Jerusalem, and of these one 




INSCRIPTION ON THE INSIDE OF THE "ARCH OF CONSTANTINE" 
Containing the names of the six rulers, "Politarchs," of Thessalonica 

took the long voyage with the apostle when he was sent a prisoner to 
Rome (Acts 20:4, 27:2). 

§ 85. In Beroea. — The third and last Macedonian town which 
Paul visited was Beroea, about 47 miles from Thessalonica by the 
shortest route, and 20 miles from the. sea. There was a synagogue 
in the city, and its members received Paul's message with all readi- 
ness of mind. Many believed, and those who did not kept silence, 
allowing the missionaries to continue their work. Some of the lead- 
ing Greeks of the city accepted the gospel. The work was finally 
interrupted by Jews from Thessalonica, who, having come to Bercea, 
stirred up the multitudes, probably by such political charges as had 



126 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

been effectual in their own city. There is no indication that any of 
the Jews of Bercea joined them. Before the opposition had resulted 
in violence, Paul left the city. Silas and Timothy remained. 

The length of Paul's sojourn in Bercea can only be conjectured. 
As it was long enough for his work to be reported in Thessalonica 
and for Jews to come thence to Bercea and to work up an opposition 
to the missionaries among the multitudes, it can hardly have been 
less than two weeks, and may have been twice that time. Of the 
church which Paul established in Bercea we have no further knowl- 
edge from New Testament sources than that one of the men who 
went with Paul to Jerusalem to take the contribution of the churches 
was a Bercean by the name of Sopater (Acts 20:4). 

With his departure from Beroea Paul's work in Macedonia ended. 
He had preached and gathered a circle of believers in three cities, and 
had been driven from each by persecution. The gospel seems to 
have been carried out from these centers with great rapidity and 
success. As early as Paul's letter to the Thessalonians he spoke of 
brethren in all Macedonia (1 Thess. 4:10), and said that the word 
of the Lord had sounded forth through Macedonia and Achaia. 

§ 86. In Athens. — If Paul made bitter enemies, he also made 
devoted friends. When his short stay in Bercea came to an abrupt 
end, there were some of his converts who accompanied him to the 
sea-coast, perhaps at Dium in the extreme southeast of Macedonia, 
and thence by water to Athens, a distance of about 200 miles. 

We have but a single allusion from Paul himself to a visit in 
Athens. He says in his first letter to the Thessalonians that he had 
sent Timothy back from Athens to Thessalonica to establish and 
comfort the church (1 Thess. 3:1, 2). When Timothy returned to 
him from this mission, he was already at work in Corinth. He 
himself says nothing of any activity in Athens. 

According to the narrative in Acts, when Paul reached Athens he 
sent back word to Beroea that Silas and Timothy should come to him 
with all speed (Acts 17:15), but no reason is there suggested for this 
step. Light is thrown upon it, however, by the first letter to the 
Thessalonians, for we learn from this of Paul's earnest desire to 
return to Thessalonica (1 Thess. 2:18; 3:11), and also that he sent 
Timothy from Athens to Thessalonica. It is natural then to con- 



128 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

elude that he summoned Timothy and Silas from Bercea because he 
wished to send a message to Thessalonica. Possibly, indeed probably, 
he sent Silas to Philippi when he sent Timothy to Thessalonica. 
For (a) he would probably have the same reasons for desiring news 
from Philippi as from Thessalonica; and (b) from 2 Cor. 11:8 com- 
pared with Phil. 4:15 we learn that the Philippians probably sent 
him money while he was in Corinth, when the " brethren" came 
from Macedonia. Now since we know that Silas was with Paul 
when he wrote 1 Thess. (1 Thess. 1:1) and that Timothy had just 
arrived from Macedonia (1 Thess. 3:6), it is highly probable that 
with Timothy had come also Silas — this, indeed, Acts 18:5 says — 
the former from Thessalonica, the latter from Philippi. 

Luke's narrative, no less than the first letter to the Thessalonians, 
makes the impression that Paul's stay in Athens was short. It was 
an interval in which he " waited " for Silas and Timothy (Acts 17 : 16), 
and his preaching was due to an external cause, viz., the idolatry of 
the city, rather than to a plan of his own. There was a synagogue 
in Athens, and in this Paul reasoned with Jews and proselytes. We 
are not told whether this activity bore any fruit. He also spoke in 
the market-place to the gentiles, where he was singularly misunder- 
stood and won but few converts (vs. 34). He was not regarded as 
a philosopher with an independent message, but rather as one who 
had borrowed his wisdom from others. He spoke of Jesus and the 
resurrection, and the hearers thought these were two new demors 
whose worship Paul would introduce. As anything new interested 
the Athenians for a little time, the notion that Paul was acquainted 
with new demons occasioned the Areopagus address. What is meant 
by "Areopagus," whether the Hill of Mars itself or a council which 
had its name from that hill, because it had originally met there, is 
disputed. But however that word is taken, it is plain that the hearing 
of Paul was not a judicial trial. He was thought to be a setter-forth 
of strange demons ; but, in a city where there was the greatest liberal - 
ity toward all cults, this could not have been regarded as a ground 
for procedure against him. There is also no suggestion in our nar- 
rative of a formal trial. No charge was brought, no defense made, 
and when Paul was interrupted in his address he went forth 
unhindered. 



PAUL'S SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY 



2 9 



The Areopagus address is marked by the same liberality of thought 
in regard to the gentiles that we have in the Lveaonian address (Acts 
14: 15-17), and in the epistle to the Romans (2 : 12-16). Paul admits 
that the Athenians worship God, but declares that their worship is 
in ignorance. He says that all nations have one origin and one 
destiny, and recognizes that Greek poets teach some truth about 
God and man. The call to repentance in view of approaching 




THE AREOPAGUS 



judgment, this judgment to be through Jesus, may not be as character- 
istic of Paul as is the doctrine of justification by faith; but the situa- 
tion may account for the emphasis which he appears to have laid on 
the former thought and for his entire omission of the latter. The 
address is said to contain no message of salvation through Christ, 
which is true; but this fact is hardly to be considered as valid evi- 
dence against its genuineness. What it does contain is Pauline, and 
that is of more weight than the argument from silence. 



I30 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

§ 87. In Corinth. — When Paul set out from Macedonia on the 
long sea- voyage to the south, it is not unlikely that he had Corinth 
prominently in view. This was the capital of the province of Achaia, 
a Roman colony founded by Julius Caesar, upon nearly the site of the 
older Corinth destroyed just a century before, a large city which, 
because of its central location between the East and the West, had a 
far-reaching influence. 

It appears from the first letter to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 3:11), 
written from Corinth, as was also 2 Thess., that Paul did not expect 
to remain long in Corinth at that time; but in the ordering of 
Providence it came about that he labored there longer than in any 
other city except Ephesus. At the outset of his stay in Corinth he 
formed one of the most fruitful friendships of his life, that with Aquila, 
a Pontian Jew, and with his wife Priscilla. With them he made his 
home, and possibly was in their employ. In any case it is natural 
to suppose that Aquila, as he was acquainted with the city, took the 
product of Paul's work and disposed of it with his own. Both earned 
their living by weaving cloth from goats' hair. 

At first Paul's preaching in Corinth was somewhat lacking in 
power because of his solicitude for his Thessalonian converts, but 
when Timothy brought a good report from this church (Acts 18:5; 
1 Thess. 3 : 6), he was able to throw himself wholly into his work. A 
speedy result of this greater earnestness on his part was such an oppo- 
sition of the Jews that he was forced out of the synagogue. After 
this he preached in the house of Titus Justus, a proselyte and prob- 
ably a Christian as well. Here he continued his work for some- 
what more than a year and a half. The number of converts among 
the Jews appears not to have been large, but it included at least one 
prominent man, Crispus, a ruler of the synagogue. But of the 
Greeks many were won to the new faith. This is not only affirmed 
by Luke, but it is also implied in the letters to the Corinthians, which 
were written four or five years after the church was founded (e. g., 
1 Cor. 1:12; 12:1-11; 16:3). 

It appears from 1 Cor. 1:26, 28 that the Greek converts were 
chiefly from the lower class. Erastus, who was treasurer of the city 
(Rom 16:23), Gaius who entertained Paul and the whole church 
(Rom. 16:23), and Chloe and Stephanas were exceptions to this rule. 



I32 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

Paul tells us that while he was in Corinth he was unusually op- 
pressed with a sense of weakness and fear (1 Cor. 2:3), with which 
agrees the statement in Acts that the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision 
and encouraged him (Acts 18:9, 10). This state of mind may have 
been due to the almost hopeless moral condition of Corinth and to 
the recent discouraging experiences in Athens. It is perhaps also 
significant that Paul speaks of this weakness in connection with his 
resolution to speak the gospel in simple words, without any of the 
arts of wisdom and eloquence which the Greeks loved. He knew 
that his message would be foolishness to most of his hearers (1 Cor. 
1:23). 

That Paul was not driven from Corinth by Jewish persecution 
was due not to any lack of the persecuting spirit, but to the temper 
of the proconsul. When his enemies brought him before the judg- 
ment seat, and charged that he persuaded men to worship contrary 
to the law, Gallio the judge, a brother of the Stoic philosopher Seneca, 
refused to entertain the charge. Since all modes of worship were 
lawful, he concluded that their accusation had force only from the 
standpoint of their own Jewish law. As the Jews were driven away 
from the judgment seat, Sosthenes the ruler of the synagogue was 
beaten without protest from Gallio, though the proceeding was 
obviously riotous and unlawful. 1 

Why Paul at length departed from Corinth our sources do not 
say. In Cenchreae, the eastern harbor of Corinth, about eight miles 
from the city, Paul, when about to take ship, had his hair cut short 
in token of the fulfilment of some vow. What this was. we do not 
know, possibly a vow made in the early days of the Corinthian work 
when Paul had felt himself weak and oppressed with fear. 

§88. The Return to Antioch.— When Paul sailed from Cen- 
chreae, his destination was Syria, and in particular, without doubt, 
the city of Antioch, but his ship touched at Ephesus, probably for a 
very short time, and he became somewhat acquainted with the syna- 
gogue there. He was asked to remain, but did not consent, though 
he promised to come back if the Lord was willing. 

1 This attack on Sosthenes must have been made by the Greeks, as there is no 
motive apparent why the Jews should have fallen upon their own leader at this time. The 
popular gentile hatred of the Jews is sufficient explanation of the unprovoked assault. 



PAULS SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY 



*33 



According to Acts 18:22 Paul sailed from Ephesus to Caesarea, whence he 
went up and saluted the church, and then at length returned to Antioch. But 
there are serious difficulties involved in this verse. It seems altogether improb- 
able, in the first place, that Luke would have referred to a visit of Paul to Jeru- 
salem in the indefinite words, "he went up and saluted the church;" Jerusalem 
is not even named, nor any motive for the visit suggested. Again, when Paul 
went to Jerusalem with the contribution three years later, he went in great trepi- 
dation, being in doubt whether he should be delivered from the disobedient in 
Judea. But if he went in fear at that time, though having a large offering for the 



11 





RUINS OF TEMPLE AT CORINTH 
(Seen also in previous picture) 

church, it is singular that he should have gone quietly on his return from Corinth, 
empty-handed and without any special motive. There is, however, no doubt 
that he went to Antioch and told of his work in the west. 

He had been absent, on a conservative estimate, two and a half 
years. He had traveled some 2,500 miles, and had established the 
gospel in the two important provinces of Macedonia and Achaia. He 
might well believe that the story of this work would be blessed of God 
to the upbuilding of the church in Antioch. 



§89. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) Where had 
Mark gone when he left Paul and Barnabas at Perga ? (2) What 

(3) Why was Paul opposed to 



may have brought him to Antioch ? 



134 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

taking him again ? (4) What evidence is there that the dissension 
between Paul and Barnabas did not lead to permanent alienation ? 
(5) With what plan did Paul leave Antioch at this time ? Whom 
did he take with him ? (6) Whither did Barnabas go ? (7) What 
new field did Paul first think of entering after he had visited his 
churches ?. (8) What direction did he finally take ? (9) What 
churches may he have established at this time ? 

(10) What was the second new field which Paul sought to enter? 
(11) Whither did he then go? (12) What may have prepared the 
way for the vision in Troas ? (13) Describe the journey from Troas 
to Philippi. (14) Describe Philippi. (15) Where did Paul preach 
and to whom ? Who was the first convert ? (16) How was the work 
of Paul finally broken off? (17) On what charges were Paul and 
Silas brought before the magistrates ? (18) Describe the events of 
the night spent in prison. (19) What use did Paul and Silas make of 
their Roman citizenship ? 

(20) Describe the journey from Philippi to Thessalonica. (21) 
Why may the missionaries have passed through Amphipolis and 
Apollonia without preaching ? (22) Describe the location of Thessa- 
lonica. (23) How long did Paul labor there ? (24) What circum- 
stances led to his departure? (25) Of what element was the church 
in Thessalonica chiefly composed ? (26) Describe Paul's work in 
Thessalonica as he himself characterizes it in 1 Thess. chap. 2. 

(27) Locate Bercea and tell how Paul was received there. (28) 
How long did he labor in Bercea ? (29) How was he driven away ? 
(30) Give a brief summary of Paul's work in Macedonia. 

(31) Describe the journey from Bercea to Athens. (32) Why did 
Paul summon Timothy to come from Bercea ? (33) How long did 
Paul remain in Athens ? (34) What led to his activity there ? (35) 
How was he regarded by the Athenians ? (36) Describe the Areop- 
agus address. Where was it delivered? (37) What was the result 
of the work in Athens ? (38) Locate Corinth. (39) How long did 
Paul labor there ? (40) What important friendship did he form at 
the beginning of his stay? (41) What was the character of Paul's 
first work in Corinth, and what brought about a change? (42) 
What two letters still extant did Paul write while he was in Corinth ? 
What do these letters show as to Paul's state of mind while in Corinth ? 



pail's second missionary journey 135 

(43) What attempt did the Jews make to drive Paul away from Cor- 
inth and why did it fail? (44) What was Cenchreae and what did 
Paul do there before sailing for Syria ? 

(45) Describe the course of Paul's return trip to Antioch. (46) 
What are the reasons for thinking that he did not go to Jerusalem ? 
(47) Give a brief summary of the second missionary journey. 

§ 90. Supplemental Topics for Study and References to Litera- 
ture. 

1. Write a chapter on Paul's second missionary journey. This 
may describe, first, his companions; second, the geography of the 
tour; third, its trials; and finally, its results. 

2. On the great Roman road, via Egnatiana see: 
Smith's Classical Dictionary. 

3. On the historical character of Luke's narrative of the work in 
Athens see: 

McGiffert, The Apostolic Age, pp. 526-62. 

4. On Paul's vow in Cenchreae see: 
Knowling in The Expositor's Greek Testament, Vol. II. 

5. On the location of the "churches of Galatia" read: 

Lightfoot, Commentary on Galatians; Chase, Expositor, Vol. XIII; 
Weizsacker, The Apostolic Age, Vol. I, pp. 270 ff.; Ramsay, The Church in the 
Roman Empire, and Historical Commentary on Galatians. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE LIFE OF A MACEDONIAN CHURCH AS REFLECTED IN 
PAUL'S LETTERS TO THE THESSALONIANS 

SYNOPSIS 

§ 91. Paul's own story of his work in Thessalonica. 

§ 92. Organization of the Thessalonian church. 

§ 93. Conspicuous doctrinal feature. 

§ 94. Practical Christian life of the Thessalonians. 

§ 91. PauPs Own Story of His Work in Thessalonica. — From the 
allusions which Paul makes to his work in Thessalonica in his two 
letters to the Thessalonians we can form a somewhat vivid picture 
of his manner of life and of preaching while there. Probably the first 
thing to which he attended on reaching the city, after he had found a 
lodging, was some means of self-support. There was no missionary 
society behind him to look out for his expenses. He might have 
asked support from those to whom he preached, but he chose to be 
independent, even though that obliged him to work nights (1 Thess. 
2:9; 2 Thess. 3:8). It is probable that he did some evangelistic 
work every day, telling his story as he could find opportunity and 
laboring here and there with individuals who had accepted his mes- 
sage (1 Thess. 4:11); but it is also probable that the work by which 
he supported himself was not all done in the night. It is plain, how- 
ever, that he had a hard struggle to earn his daily bread, pay for his 
lodging, and do all that his heart moved him to do in making known 
the Christian faith. We do not know certainly what kind of work 
Paul did in Thessalonica. We know what his special trade was (see 
Acts 18:3), but whether there was opportunity to follow it in Thessa- 
lonica one can not say. He may have had to turn his hand to some 
other kind of labor. 

It is possible to learn from the Thessalonian letters some of the 
special topics on which Paul spoke while in Thessalonica. Of course, 
in general, the message which he brought was the gospel, his gospel 
( 1 Thess. 1:4), the gospel of God (1 Thess. 2:2, 8), or of Christ 

136 



LIFE OF A MACEDONIAN CHURCH I37 

(1 Thess. 3:2), but we can also notice some of the points on which 
he dwelt with particular emphasis. Thus, e. g., he had taught the 
Thcssalonians that the end of the gospel message was, with reference 
to God, twofold, viz., that they should have faith in him (i Thess. 
1:8), and that they should walk worthily of him (i Thess. 2:12). 
He had told them of the sufferings and death of Jesus (e. g., 
1 Thess.- 1:6; 2:15; 4:14), his resurrection from the dead (1 Thess. 
4: 14; 5:10), his coming and the glory which he would then bestow 
upon his followers (1 Thess. 1:10; 2 Thess. 2:14). He had told 
them in detail what kind of outward life is pleasing to God, dwelling 
0*1 purity and industry (1 Thess. 4:1, 3; 2 Thess. 3:10). 

We have said that the time spent in Thessalonica was a time of 
struggle for Paul. It was also a time of quick and remarkable 
response to his message, as we shall see in the course of the present 
chapter. A deep attachment sprang up between him and the Thessa- 
lonian believers, and when he had gone away and thought of them 
at a distance, they stood before his inner eye as his glory and joy 
(1 Thess. 2:20). 

§ 92. Organization of the Thessalonian Church. — The apostle addressed 
the Thessalonian believers as a "church" (1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1), he also 
compared them with the churches in Judea (1 Thess. 2:14), and yet it seems 
plain that they had no formal organization. Paul knew of certain persons in 
Thessalonica who were conspicuous for their labors in behalf of the church, and 
he recognized these as being in a sense over the rest (1 Thess. 5: 12). He asked 
that these persons might be esteemed highly for their works' sake. But there is 
no suggestion of any claim which they might have made by virtue of an office with 
which the church had clothed them. Moreover, all the brethren of the church 
are exhorted to admonish the disorderly, even as those who are said to be over 
the church admonish them; and in other respects also, all members are exhorted 
to do pastoral work, and it is assumed that they are actually doing it (1 Thess. 
5:11). This fact indicates that those who were over the church were not officers 
formally chosen by the brotherhood or by Paul, but rather those who, by their 
leadership in service, had gained a certain pre-eminence and certain moral right 
to leadership in government and worship. 

Thus at the time when the letters to the Thessalonians were written, we see 
"a church without a bishop," and, indeed, without any formal ecclesiastical organ- 
ization. There were a number of persons who were beginning to constitute what 
Dobschiitz calls an "educational staff" (cf. Christian Life in the Primitive 
Church, p. 88), and there can be little doubt that from their number bishops 
were duly chosen in the near future; but there was vigorous life — that is the 



138 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

point to be noticed — while as yet the Christians were an outwardly unorganized 
body. 

§ 93. Conspicuous Doctrinal Feature.— The thought and life of the Thessa- 
lonian church, at the time when Paul wrote his letters to them, were largely colored 
by the doctrine of the second coming of Christ. Other doctrines were not ignored, 
especially the teaching of the apostle in regard to patience and brotherly love 
and purity; but of doctrines not directly concerned with ethics no one had an 
influence at all comparable with that of the parousia, or second coming of the 
Lord. 

How near this coming was thought to be, and how essential even to the be- 
liever's continued existence, is seen from the impression created by the death of 
some members of the Thessalonian church. This event had caused great sorrow. 
Evidently it had been hoped and believed that the Lord would come before any 
one of their number died. And it is plain from the words of Paul that the Thes- 
salonian believers seriously doubted whether their dead members would share 
in the heavenly kingdom at all (1 Thess. 4:13 — 5:11). It is obvious from this 
that Paul had presented the second coming of Christ simply with relation to the 
living. He had not considered the possibility that any would die before the day 
of the Lord's return. In other words, he had not treated the doctrine in a sys- 
tematic and exhaustive manner, but only in its practical bearing upon those 
who heard him speak. He had probably used it chiefly as a motive to godly 
living (cf. 1 Thess. 3:13; 2 Thess. 2:14). 

It may be supposed that what Paul said in his first letter with regard to those 
believers who had died comforted the church. He did not refer to the point in 
his second letter. But on the subject of the nearness of the day of the Lord's 
coming his first letter only reiterated the general teaching which he had given 
them in person. It said that the day was near (1 Thess. 1:10; 4:15), that it 
would come as a thief in the night (1 Thess. 5:2), and that they should therefore 
watch and be sober (1 Thess. 5:6). 

Now this doctrine of the nearness of the Lord's coming, entirely apart from 
its relation to those who had died, was already exciting and confusing the church 
when the first letter was written. Some persons were neglecting their business, 
and thereby becoming dependent on others, for the Thessalonian Christians were 
very poor (2 Cor. 8:2). This idleness made a bad impression, Paul thought, 
on those outside the church. It did not commend the gospel. Some report of 
the harmful influence of the doctrine reached the apostle, and occasioned the 
second letter to the Thessalonians. In this he besought them not to be 
troubled by the thought that the second coming of the Lord was immediately at 
hand, for it was not. He then told of certain things which must precede, and 
said that he had already given them this information while he was with them 
(2 Thess. 2:5). They were not to stop their ordinary work, and give themselves 
up to religious excitement (2 Thess. 3: 12). Any who did this were to be avoided 
by the rest (2 Thess. 3:6, 14). 



LIFE OF A MACEDONIAN CHURCH 1 39 

It appears, then, that the life of the Thessalonian Christians, or of many among 
them, was disturbed and injured by their understanding of the doctrine of the 
Lord's second coming. But Paul did not make any essential change in his teach- 
ing. He only sought to enlighten the ignorance of the Thessalonians in regard 
to their dead friends, and to emphasize what he had saidjpersonally concerning 
the signs which were to precede the Lord's coming. 

§ 94. Practical Christian Life of the Thessalonians. — By the side 
of the unfortunate doctrinal excitement on the part of some members 
of the church in Thessalonica there was also, in the earliest days, that 
is, before and at the time of the composition of the letters of Paul to 
the church, an extraordinary manifestation of the Christian spirit. In 
the glow of his generous affection for his converts, the language of 
Paul regarding their estate was doubtless somewhat exaggerated, 
but nevertheless the facts must have been remarkable. 

When he wrote his first letter, from two to six months after his 
work in Thessalonica, he said that the faith of the Thessalonian 
Christians had become known throughout Macedonia and Achaia (1 
Thess. 1:8); and when he wrote the second letter he had received 
such evidence of Christian life from Thessalonica that he spoke of 
the exceeding growth of their faith (2 Thess, 1 : 3). He also asked the 
Thessalonian Christians to pray that the word of the Lord might run 
and be glorified in Corinth even as in Thessalonica — language which 
he certainly could not have used had he not been in a high degree 
satisfied with the activity of his young converts. 

But this faith toward God, which was proved by their activity 
and their patient endurance of persecution, was equaled or even 
excelled by their love one toward another. It was not needful, Paul 
said, to write to them on this subject, for they were obviously taught 
of God (1 Thess. 4:9). And when he wrote his second letter, he 
spoke again of the abounding love which his readers had for each 
other (2 Thess. 1:3). It was doubtless this fact of mutual love 
which made it possible for the church to be at peace and to thrive, 
though having at the most a very rudimentary and unofficial 
organization. 

But the church was not altogether of this sort. There were in- 
stances of falling back into gentile immoralities (1 Thess. 4:3-8); 
there were apparently some who made light of the second coming 



I40 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

of the Lord (i Thess. 5:6, 8), as there were other extremists who 
could speak of nothing else than that coming; and then there were 
also some quarrelsome, some faint-hearted, and some weak (1 Thess. 
5:13, 14). Yet when it is considered that the recipients of these 
letters had been out of heathenism less than half a year, the way in 
which the gospel had laid hold upon them, and transformed them, 
is a fact of the utmost significance. 

§95. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) What do the 

Thessalonian letters say in regard to the manner of Paul's life while 
in Thessalonica ? (2) On what point of teaching regarding God and 
Christ and the Christian life do they indicate that Paul laid stress ? 
(3) What do the Thessalonian letters indicate in regard to the organi- 
zation of the church in Thessalonica ? (4) What doctrine was 
especially prominent among the Thessalonian believers ? (5) What 
fear was entertained regarding those who had died ? (6) How did 
Paul comfort his readers in this matter (see 1 Thess. 4:14)? (7) What 
other harm came from a misunderstanding of the same doctrine ? 
(8) What were the prominent features of the Christian life of the 
Thessalonians ? (9) What defects in their life are manifest ? 

§ 96. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Litera- 
ture. 

(1) On the basis of a careful study of the letters to the Thessa- 
lonians write a short chapter on Paul's presentation of the gospel to 
the Thessalonians and the early days of the Thessalonian church. 

(2) With reference to a change in Paul's view of the nearness of 
the Lord's coming study, in addition to the passages in Thessalo- 
nians, 1 Cor. 15:51, 52; Rom. 13:12; 001.3:4; Phil. 4:5; 1 Tim. 
6:14; .2 Tim. 4:1, 6. 

(3) On the genuineness of 2 Thessalonians see: 

Bacon, Introduction to the New Testament, and Weizsacker, The Apostolic 
Age, Vol. I, pp. 295-98. 

(4) What other letters did Paul authenticate as he did 2 Thessa- 
lonians ? Why did he do this ? 



CHAPTER XV 

PAUL IN EPHESUS ON HIS THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY 

SYNOPSIS 

§gy. Christian forerunners of Paul in Ephesus. Acts 18:19a, 24-28 

§ 98. PauPs work in Ephesus according to Acts. Acts, chap. 19 

§ 95. Significant events of the Ephesian period witnessed to by PauPs letters. 

§97. Christian Forerunners of Paul in Ephesus. — When Paul 
sailed from Cenchreae for Syria, his friends Priscilla and Aquila were 
with him, and it seems not unlikely that he had asked them to go, with 
the thought of work in Ephesus. It appears that he no longer felt 
toward work in Asia as he had at an earlier day (Acts 16:6), for when 
his ship touched at Ephesus, he went into the synagogue and rea- 
soned with the Jews, and though he did not think it best to remain, 
he intimated that he would come back. If, then, he was already 
considering Ephesus as a field of labor when he left Corinth, it was 
natural that he should desire to have these congenial and gifted fel- 
low-laborers with him. 

About the time when Aquila and his wife settled in Ephesus, 
Apollos also came to the city and began to speak boldly in the syna- 
gogue concerning Jesus, that is to say, he preached that Jesus was 
the Messiah. Luke's language that he taught "accurately the things 
concerning Jesus" implies that he was acquainted with the leading 
facts of his life and teaching, and with his resurrection. As Apollos 
was an Alexandrian by race, and so presumably had been instructed 
in the way of the Lord in that city, we have indirect evidence that 
the gospel was preached in Egypt before Paul worked in Ephesus. 
The word used by Luke when he says that Apollos had been instructed 
in the way of the Lord (tcaTrjxov/jievos) suggests that he had re- 
ceived his instruction orally rather than from writings (cf. the use of 
the word in Luke 1 14; Acts 21:21, 24; 1 Cor. 14:19; Gal. 6:6). 

Apollos was a Christian, but was unacquainted with Christian 
baptism. The same position was occupied by the twelve disciples 
whom Paul found in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-7). They knew only the 

141 



142 



CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 



baptism of John. Apparently they had not heard of Pentecost, and 
the doctrine of the presence of the Spirit of God. Aquila and 
Priscilla had a conference with Apollos, and, according to Luke, 
" expounded unto him the way of God more accurately." He appears 
to have received their instruction, for when, later, he was disposed 
to go over to Achaia to preach, the brethren commended him, and 
his work in Achaia was profitable to believers. Doubtless he was 




GENERAL VIEW OF EPHESUS AS IT WAS IN 1830 



baptized, perhaps by Aquila, as the other disciples who shared his 
position received baptism from Paul. 

The narrative of Luke does not connect the group of believers 
whom Paul found in Ephesus with Apollos. If they had been his 
disciples, it would be strange that he did not take to them the fuller 
knowledge which he had received from Aquila and Priscilla ; strange, 
too, that Aquila and Priscilla themselves did not meet them. In 
view of these considerations one is inclined to think that they may 
have come out of the same Alexandrian circle from which Apollos 
had come, and that Apollos had gone from Ephesus before they 
arrived. 



PAUL IN EPHESUS 



U3 



§ 98. Paul's Work in Ephesus According to Acts. — When Paul 
set out on his second missionary journey, he visited the churches of 
Syria and Cilicia as well as those of Pisidia and Lycaonia (Acts 15:41 ; 
16:1-5). But when he next left Antioch, he went, according to Luke, 
into the region of Galatia and Phrygia (Acts. 18:23). After a period 
whose length is not at all indicated, he reached Ephesus. 

Ephesus, situated near the Cayster River on the coast of Lydia, 




EPHESUS: RUINS OF THE TEMPLE OF DIANA 

had long been the chief of the cities of Asia Minor when Paul came 
thither with the gospel. It had been the capital of the Roman 
province of Asia for nearly two centuries (since 133 b. c). It had 
a large Jewish population, many of whom were Roman citizens 
(Antiq., 14. 10. 16, 19), and all of whom were citizens of Ephesus 
(Schurer, The Jewish People, etc., Div. 2, Vol. II, p. 279). The city 
was as important religiously as it was politically, for it was the seat 
of the worship of Diana. Her temple, which was more than three 
hundred years old when Paul visited Ephesus, was regarded as one 
of the wonders of the world. The field, therefore, promised to be 
especially difficult as well as especially important. 



144 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

Paul labored longer in Ephesus without interruption than in ar,y 
other city. In the synagogue he spoke boldly three months, and in 
the school of Tyrannus he labored more than two years. He refers 
to his sojourn in Ephesus as having lasted three years (Acts 20:31). 
During this time he taught daily, both in public and from house to 
house (Acts 20:20). The depth and extent of his influence are 
variously illustrated. Thus, in his first letter to the Corinthiars, 
Paul sends salutations from the "churches" in Asia (1 Cor. 16:19); 
but as he himself had planted the gospel in this province, these 
churches were all, directly or indirectly, his creation. Again, Luke 
says that while Paul was in Ephesus, all who dwelt in Asia — a region 
approximately the size of New England and thickly populated — 
heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. This language 
is obviously hyperbolical, but it can hardly be supposed that it would 
have been used had not the influence of Paul's work in Ephesus 
been known to be widely pervasive. Multitudes who came to Ephesus 
on business or to worship must have seen and heard him. When 
any of these were converted, they, of course, bore the seeds cf the 
gospel to their own homes. And doubtless there were Ephesian 
converts who went forth as evangelists into the surrounding region. 

Another illustration of Paul's influence in Ephesus is the story 
of the collapse of magic, which need not be wholly discredited simply 
because it can not be regarded as wholly historical. We may well 
believe that Jewish exorcists conjured with the potent names of 
Jesus and Paul. This would net indicate that they had faith in 
Jesus or respect for Paul, but only that they were keeping abreast 
of the times. If they used these names, it was, of course, for 
material gain. 

Luke tells how two Jews, sons of a chief priest, when seeking to 
exorcise a demon by means of the names of Jesus and Paul, were 
attacked by the demoniac and put to flight. He said that he knew 
Jesus and Paul, and this word became widely circulated and was 
regarded as a veritable recognition of Jesus and Paul by the powers 
of evil. One consequence was that many magicians, feeling that 
demoniac power would succumb to no exorcism save that of Jesus 
and Paul, voluntarily burned their books on magic. Of course it 
does not follow that these men became Christians. The act of burn- 



PAIL IN EPHESUS 



145 



ing their books may have been quite as superstitious as anything 
they had hitherto done. The value of the incident, if historical, is 
that it witnesses to the power of Paul's personality and to the deep 
impression made by his gospel. 

It may have been the fact of Paul's great success in Ephesus 
which gave rise to the story that extraordinary miracles had bjen 
wrought by his hands. Luke says that sick persons and demoniacs 
were healed by the application of handkerchiefs and aprons which 




EPHESUS: SITE OF THE THEATRE 

had touched the body of Paul. Now if Paul authorized this 
practice, he must have known that the persons in need had faith to 
be healed in this way, and accordingly made a concession to the 
superstition of Ephesus. But this seems extremely improbable. 
The "signs" of an apostle were indeed wrought by Paul (2 Cor. 12:12; 
Rom. 15:18, 19), but they were altogether unlike the acts of which 
Luke makes mention at this point. 

The work of Paul in Ephesus was at length interrupted by gentiles 
who had suffered pecuniary loss from his preaching. A promi- 



146 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

nent industry of the city was the manufacture of shrines of the goddess. 
In this industry a certain Demetrius was engaged, who appears to 
have been a large employer of skilled labor. He gathered the crafts- 
men together, and wrought up their passions by telling them 
that they were losing their means of support through Paul's preach- 
ing, and that even their goddess was in danger of being deposed. 
Their excitement communicated itself to others as they rushed 
through the city to the great theater, dragging with them two com- 
panions of Paul, Gaius and Aristarchus. The gathering in the 
theater was without intelligent control. The greater part of those 
present knew not why they were there. A Jew by the name of Alex- 
ander attempted to speak, but in vain. He only increased the ex- 
citement, for he was recognized as a Jew, and it was of course known 
that Paul belonged to this hated race. The circumstance that this 
Alexander was put forward by the Jews may indicate that voices 
had been heard in the theater charging the trouble to the Jews, and 
that they wished to defend themselves. 

When the multitude had exhausted themselves with shouting, the 
town-clerk, who also may have been one of the highpriests friendly 
to Paul (vs. 31), but who was in any case clothed with high authority, 
persuaded the crowd to disperse. He declared that Diana's position 
was perfectly secure. No one could deny that her heaven-descended 
image was in the temple. He said also that no valid complaint had 
been lodged against the Christians; that Demetrius and the crafts- 
men had ample legal provisions by which to secure their rights; 
and finally that such a riotous meeting might bring serious accusa- 
tions against the city. Thus Demetrius failed to get any official 
support for his opposition to the Christians, and also failed to excite 
such popular feeling that it resulted in assaults on Paul and other 
leaders. 

But though Paul was at liberty to continue preaching in Ephesus, 
he at once voluntarily left the city, perhaps fearing that his presence 
would aggravate the situation and interfere with the progress of the 
gospel. 

§ 99. Significant Events of the Ephesian Period Witnessed to by 
PauPs Letters. — The years spent in Ephesus, even according to 
Luke's narrative, were crowded with labors and dramatic incidents. 



PAUL IN EPHESUS 



J 47 



If to this narrative we add certain hints found in Paul's letters, we 
get a greatly heightened impression of the apostle's capacity for 
work and of his ability to direct a great religious movement. 

If the Ephesian period was remarkable for its successes, so was it 
also for its perils. It was here that Paul fought with beasts (i Cor. 
15:32). Whether we understand this language literally or figura- 
tively, it implies extraordinary danger. Even if the "beasts" were 




A THEATRE OF THE FIRST CENTURY (POMPEII) 

men, as we are probably to hold, the very term of the comparison 
and the fact that fighting with beasts seems to be regarded as a 
stronger expression than the preceding words, "I die daily," require 
us to think of some peculiarly savage attack on Paul. 

It was also probably 1 in Ephesus also that an affliction befell the 
apostle out of which his deliverance seemed to him as a resurrection 
from the dead — so manifestly divine was it (2 Cor. 1:8-11). The 

1 2 Cor. 1:8 specifies the scene of this event as "in Asia," i.e. in the province 
of which Ephesus was the capital. But we do not know of work by Paul in the province 
outside of Ephesus. 



148 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

nature of this event is not indicated; the readers are assumed to be 
acquainted with it, at least in a general way. The " marks of Jesus, " 
which Paul tells the Galatians that he bore branded on his body, 
may have recorded some of his extreme sufferings while in Ephesus. 

But these physical perils and afflictions were perhaps of less con- 
cern to Paul than the trials to which some of his newly founded 
churches subjected him. Thus it was probably while he was at 
Ephesus that he heard of the alarming turn of affairs among his 
Galatian converts. How profoundly he was moved by this report 
is shown by every page of his letter to them. No less deeply was he 
stirred during this time by events which were taking place in the 
Corinthian church. To this church he wrote a letter which has not 
been preserved (1 Cor. 5:9), and to this also, in the judgment of 
many scholars, he made a visit from Ephesus of which Acts has no 
record. The clearest indication of such a visit is 2 Cor. 2:i. x If 
Paul visited the Corinthian church during the Ephesian period, the 
visit was painful because of the bold opposition of his adversaries 
(2 Cor. 2:1; 1 Cor. 4:18). 

Thus we see the anxiety for churches at a distance, where the 
very existence of Paul's work, was in jeopardy, mingled with the 
immediate toils and perils of the Ephesian ministry. But he bore 
the toils, escaped the perils, and by his letters to the Galatians and 
Corinthians successfully asserted his spiritual authority among them. 

§ 100. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) Whom did 
Paul take with him when he left Corinth, and for what purpose ? 
(2) Who was Apollos, and what was lacking in his Christian instruc- 
tion ? (3) What evidence is there that he accepted the instruction 
of Aquila and Priscilla ? (4) Are the men in Ephesus who held the 
same view as Apollos to be regarded as his disciples ? (5) By what 
route did Paul go from Antioch to Ephesus ? (6) Locate and de- 
scribe Ephesus. (7) Why was it an important and difficult field ? 
(8) How long did Paul labor in Ephesus ? (9) Illustrate the depth 
and extent of his influence. 

(10) What light do the letters of Paul throw on his perils and 
sufferings while in Ephesus ? (11) What other great trials befellhim 

1 Other passages which may be held to imply this visit are 2 Cor. 12: 14; 13: 1, 2. 



PAUL IN EPHESUS 



149 



at this time? (12) What journey is it possible that he made of 
which Acts has no record ? 

$ iot. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Lit- 
erature. 

1. Write a chapter on the work in Ephesus, especially as illus- 
trating Paul's capacity for work and the sufferings which befell him. 

2. On Apollos as a disciple of John the Baptist see: 
McGiffert, The Apostolic Age, pp. 290-92. 

3. Regarding a third visit in Corinth not mentioned in Acts see: 
WVizsacker, The Apostolic Age, Vol. I, pp. 343~49- 




RAPHAEL'S HEAD OF PAUL 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE LIFE OF THE GALATIAN CHURCHES AS SEEN THROUGH 
PAUL'S LETTER TO THE GALATIANS 

SYNOPSIS 

§ 102. The Christian estate of the Galatians before their apostasy. 

§ 103. The judaizers or "false brethren." 

§ 104. Why and how far the Galatians were carried away by the judaizers. 

§ 102. The Christian Estate of the Galatians before Their Apos- 
tasy. — It was pointed out in the last chapter that among the heavy 
burdens which Paul had to bear while in Ephesus was the sudden 
and extreme peril confronting his Galatian converts. We are now 
to consider, so far as Paul's letter makes it possible to do so, the 
nature and extent of this peril. Incidental to the aim of the letter 
to the Galatians are certain remarks which enable us to form some 
idea of their estate before they were troubled by the "false brethren" 
.(Gal. 4:14). Thus we learn that they had welcomed Paul as an 
angel, or even as though he had been Christ Jesus himself, which 
was of course due to the message which he brought. When it is 
said that they would have plucked out their eyes and have given 
them to Paul (Gal. 4:14, 15), we see in that language how keenly 
they appreciated his gospel. They had come to know God and had 
received the Spirit (Gal. 3:2; 4:9). The impression made upon 
them by Paul's preaching had been deep and abiding. They had 
run well the Christian race (Gal. 5:7). They had been called to 
suffer much (Gal. 3:4), that is, on account of their faith, and it is 
implied that they had endured their sufferings as Christians should. 
That their general condition had been eminently satisfactory to the 
apostle is apparent from the surprise and deep emotion with which 
he heard of their turning aside (see, e. g., 1:6; 3:1). The news 
was as lightning out of a clear sky. 

The letter contains indications that, while the general spiritual 
condition of the Galatians had been worthy of high praise, there 
had been some defects in their life, notably, sensual sins, sorcery 

150 



LIFE OF THE GALATIAN CHURCHES 151 

and factiousness (Gal. 5:19, 20). These had characterized them 
before they accepted the gospel, and Paul had warned them that 
they could not practice such things and yet hope to inherit the king- 
dom of God. The fact that he repeats this warning shows that it 
was still needed. 

§103. The Judaizers or "False Brethren. " — The churches of 
Galatia had become unsettled by Jewish Christians who, visiting 
the Galatians in Paul's absence, insisted upon the observance of the 
law. Paul gives these men no specific name, but clearly character- 
izes their position. Men who held the same views at Antioch, and 
whose agitation led to the conference in Jerusalem, were called 
"false brethren;" and Paul's words of rebuke to Peter in Antioch 
shortly after the conference suggest the name " judaizers" for the 
same class of people (Gal. 2:14). 

One would not gather from Paul's letter that he regarded these 
men as Christians, and it is clear that they, in turn, can have had 
but scant respect for his Christianity. He declares that they would 
pervert the gospel (1:7); that their motive, or one of their motives, 
was to avoid persecution (6:12); and he virtually pronounces an 
anathema upon them (1:8, 9). They have no profit from Christ 
because they are under the law (5:4). Such, briefly, was Paul's 
estimate of the judaizers. When we turn to the other side, we see 
that they thought poorly of him. They evidently had said that he 
was no apostle, or at best had only a second-hand apostleship, for 
Paul takes great pains to show that his apostleship "was authorized 
by God himself, vouchsafed to him through the vision of Christ, 
exercised in independent missionary work, recognized by the author- 
ities in Jerusalem, and maintained against them" (Dobschutz). 
They said also that Paul was seeking to please men, that is, in preach- 
ing a gospel of freedom from the law (1 : 10), and that he was incon- 
sistent, for sometimes he himself preached circumcision (5:11). 
Then they declared that he was really the enemy of the Galatians 
(4:16). Whether they anathematized him, as he anathematized 
them, we do not know. Certainly the difference between them was 
fundamental, and each thought the other hopelessly wrong. 

Whence these false brethren came to the churches of Galatia the letter does 
not directly suggest. It is conceivable that they arose in that very field, for 



152 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

among the Jews of Galatia who accepted the gospel there might have been some 
who from the first had resented the free admission of the gentiles, and who after 
Paul's departure instituted a vigorous propaganda in support of the Jewish law. 
We know that the Hellenistic Jews could be as fanatically devoted to the customs 
of the fathers as those who had spent their lives in the shadow of the temple. But 
while such an origin of the judaizers of Galatia may be conceivable, it appears 
quite improbable. The fact that men of this type had come down from Jeru- 
salem to Antioch, and the implication that they had also gone throughout Syria 
and Cilicia (Acts 15:23, 24) suggest that the agitation in Galatia is to be traced 
to the same source. There is also a passage in the letter to the Galatians, which, 
if it does not directly suggest this view, at least favors it. That is the allegory 
of Sarah and Hagar. Hagar answers to the " Jerusalem that now is," whose 
children are in bondage, Sarah to the Jerusalem which is above, whose children 
are free. This passage is most forcible if the judaizers were from Jerusalem, 
the mother church, and if they claimed that, on this account, they had superior 
authority. Holtzmann suggests that one of their watchwords was this, 
"Jerusalem is our mother." 

It is unfortunate that we have no description of the views of the judaizers by 
one of themselves. For though their aim is clear from Paul's letters, and we can 
have no doubt on which side essential truth lay, yet we could judge of the men 
better if we knew just how the great question of the gentiles' relation to the law 
looked to them, and with what arguments they supported their position. That 
the arguments seemed to them absolutely conclusive there can be no doubt. 
And there is no more reason to question their sincerity than there is to question 
the sincerity of their great adversary. Their apprehension of the gospel was 
obviously defective in the extreme, but this does not imply that their motives 
were impure. 

The position of the judaizers as seen through Paul's letters can 
be briefly stated. They taught that the law was in force, and that 
salvation for gentile as for Jew was by works of the law. The 
messianic deliverance was for the sons of Abraham, and gentiles 
who would share in that deliverance must first become sons of Abra- 
ham by coming under the law. Perfection was not to be had by 
faith, as Paul taught, but by works (3:3). It is possible that they 
did not at once insist upon the observance of the entire ceremonial 
law. This is suggested by the fact that while some in the church 
had already adopted Jewish feast days (4:10), they seemed to be 
wavering in regard to circumcision (5:2). But this hesitation on 
the part of the Galatian believers to accept circumcision is to be 
attributed to their own doubt as to its necessity rather than to any 
willingness of the judaizers to exempt the gentiles from this funda- 



LIFE OF THE GALATIAN CHURCHES 1 53 

mental part of the ceremonial law. They may have sought to bring 
the Galatians under the yoke by easy stages, leading them first to 
keep the Jewish feast days, but there is no reason to suppose that 
they offered them a compromise. 

What the judaizers said about Jesus, and what it was that con- 
stituted their "gospel" (1:6), the letter does not clearly indicate. 
They, of course, accepted Jesus as the Messiah and believed in his 
resurrection, but they held that his life and work had left Judaism 
intact. 

§ 104. Why and How Far the Galatians Were Carried Away 
by the Judaizers. — It is plain from the intense feeling of the letter 
to the Galatians that the false brethren had already taken a firm 
hold on the churches of that region. Their "different gospel" had 
to some considerable extent carried the day. Some of the Galatians, 
apparently many of them, had accepted the principle of salvation by 
works of the law. They were already keeping the Jewish feasts, 
one of these doubtless being the observance of the Jewish weekly 
Sabbath. That many had been circumcised seems improbable 
(5:2), though there may have been some instances in which this step 
had been taken (6:12). Evidently the report of affairs in the Gala- 
tian churches was to the effect that the believers were at the very 
point of accepting circumcision. Paul may have felt that it was 
quite possible that this step had been taken even while the report 
was on the way. 

The judaizers had not carried the entire membership of the Gala- 
tian churches with them. Paul can still speak of some who are 
"spiritual" (6:2), though the evil leaven threatened to leaven the 
whole lump (5:9). Such an expression of confidence as that in 5 : 10 
indicates that some persons were known to him who still stood fast 
in their Christian freedom. If the sharp contentions among the 
Galatians were occasioned by the judaizers (5 : 13-15), that also would 
indicate that there was a party who remained loyal to Paul. 

The apostle marveled that the Galatians were so quickly removing 
from the faith (1:6), but it is not altogether strange that they were cap- 
tivated by the Jewish view of salvation. In the first place, a religion 
of works was nearer to their old religion and far more intelligible 
than Paul's spiritual conception of the Christian life. If Paul's 



154 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

conception is still too high, too mystical, for many people, after cen- 
turies of Christian experience, it is easy to believe that for people just 
taken out of nature-worship it was difficult to grasp, and that the 
Jewish doctrine was a positive relief. Then, again, the doctrine of 
the judaizers seemed to be powerfully commended by the fact that 
it was plainly loyal to the Scriptures, on which Paul also claimed to 
stand, and because it accorded with the practice of Jesus and of his 
apostles. These facts could not be gainsaid, and must have weighed 
heavily for the position of the judaizers. Finally, in addition to 
these things, it is altogether probable that the Jewish members of 
the Galatian churches, who were, of course, far more familiar with 
the Scripture argument than the gentiles could be, were the first to 
withdraw from Paul's position, and their example could not fail to 
influence their gentile brethren. The success of the judaizers, there- 
fore, is not inexplicable. 

What effect Paul's letter had in the Galatian churches we can not 
tell. His reference to a collection in those churches, made at his 
direction (i Cor. 16:1), indicates that there were some, at least, who 
recognized his authority, but it does not necessarily imply that the 
judaizing element was brought back by the letter. If the Galatian 
churches were the churches of Pisidia and Lycaonia, then the fact 
that Gaius of Derbe (Acts 20 : 4) appears among the delegates of the 
churches to Jerusalem suggests, though of course it does not prove, 
that the influence of the letter was salutary. 

§ 105. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) Where was 
the Roman province of Galatia ? (2) What are the opinions in regard 
to the part of that province in which the Galatian churches were 
situated ? (3) Who founded these churches ? (4) Name the main 
characteristics of the gospel which was preached to them. (5) To 
what disturbing influence were these churches subjected in 
Paul's absence from them ? (6) What names can be derived from 
Galatians, chap. 2, to describe the men who troubled the churches? 
(7) What was Paul's estimate of these men? (8) What was their 
estimate of Paul ? (9) What reasons are there for thinking that the 
judaizers came from Jerusalem ? (10) Whence do we get our knowl- 
edge of these men? (11) What was the belief of the judaizers? 



LIFE OF THE GALATIAN (IHRCHES 



155 



(12) By what argument did they endeavor to convince the Galatians ? 

(13) How tar had the Galatian churches been carried away by the 
judaizers? (14) Explain why the position of the judaizers had so 
great influence with the Galatians? (15) What effect did Paul's 
letter have ? 

§ [06. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Lit- 
erature. 

1. Write a chapter on the crisis in the churches of Galatia. In 
describing the judaizers, make use of Acts 15, 2 Cor. 10-13, an d Rom. 
10: 17-20, as well as the letter to the Galatians. 

2. On the date and place of composition of the letter to the Gala- 
tia rs see: 

Weiss, Introduction to the New Testament, Vol. I, pp. 234 ff., who 
thinks it was written from Ephesus about 56 a. d.; Bacon, New Testament Intro- 
duction, pp. 57, 58, who thinks it was written from Corinth in the year 50 a. d.; 
and McGiffert, The Apostolic Age, pp. 226 ff., who thinks it was written from 
Antioch before the second missionary journey. 




CHAPTER XVII 

THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH AT CORINTH AS SEEN THROUGH 
PAUL'S LETTERS TO THE CORINTHIANS 

SYNOPSIS 

§ 107. Constituency and organization of the church. 

§ 108. The parties in the church. 

§ 109. The survival of gentile immorality. 

§110. Marriage versus celibacy. 

§ in. The use of sacrificial meat. 

§ 112. Women in public worship. 

§ 113. Spiritual gifts; prophecy and speaking with tongues. 

§ 114. Denial of the resurrection. 

§ 115. Sacred ordinances. 

§ 107. Constituency and Organization of the Church. 

(a) Constituency 0} the church. — The Corinthian church, like all 
the other churches founded by Paul, was predominantly gentile, but 
the Jewish element seems to have been of considerable size. We are 
told that Crispus the ruler of the synagogue was converted with all his 
house (Acts 18:8; 1 Cor. 1:14), and it is probable that the " Cephas " 
party had its nucleus in the Jewish contingent. Of the gentiles in 
the Corinthian church it is likely that the great majority were Greek, 
but as Corinth was one of the most cosmopolitan of cities 1 the con- 
verts of Paul may well have included a considerable variety of races. 
His host (Gaius) on both occasions when he spent any length of time 
in Corinth appears to have been a Roman (Acts 18:7; 1 Cor. 1:14), 
also his amanuensis (Tertius) when he composed the letter to the 
Romans, and two of those who sent greetings in that letter (Lucius 
and Quartus). 

In regard to the social, educational, and financial standing of the 
Corinthian believers, the indications are that a large majority of 
them belonged to the lower class. Paul reminded them that not 
many wise, not many mighty, not many noble had been called (1 Cor. 
1:26).. Yet the poverty and ignorance of the Corinthian member- 

1 Mommsen, Provinces of the Roman Empire, Vol. I, p. 304, says that Corinth 
was the least Greek town in Hellas. 

156 



LIFE OF THE CHURCH AT CORINTH 1 57 

ship must not be too strongly emphasized. Families like those of 
Chloe and Stephanas, who eould undertake long journeys at their 
own charges and who ministered to the saints, evidently had means. 
Crispus and Gaius and Erastus were probably men of education and 
property. Again, believers who went to law (i Cor. 6) were cer- 
tainly not of the poorest, and Paul never intimates that a collection 
for the saints in Jerusalem would be any special hardship to the 
Corinthian Christians, as it was to those of Macedonia. The fact 
that Paul labored with his own hands while founding the church in 
Corinth (Acts 18:3), and was not a burden to the converts (2 Cor. 
11:7; 12:13), was for reasons independent of their worldly estate 
(2 Cor. 12:9-12). 

Of the size of the Corinthian church at the time when the letters 
were written we have no very definite knowledge. It is assumed that 
they all met together for worship, apparently in a private house, 
which suggests that the number was comparatively small, perhaps 
one to three hundred. 

(6) The organization of the church in Corinth. — In the church at Corinth, 
which was five or six years old when the letters were written, there appears to 
have been no formal organization. The house of Stephanas "set themselves to 
minister to the saints" (1 Cor. 16:15), an d the language of Paul implies that 
there were some others who had done the same. Paul "besought" the brethren 
to be in subjection to such leaders, but plainly their position was quite unofficial. 
The entire absence of any ordained spiritual leaders appears from the account 
of the public worship (1 Cor. 14:26-40). Directing and governing were as yet 
only functions variously exercised, and not fixed in regularly appointed officers 
(1 Cor. 12:29). 

The Corinthian church, however, may not have been exceptional in this 
matter of organization. We do not know that Paul ever repeated the course 
that he adopted with the churches of Pisidia and Lycaonia. There were bishops 
and deacons at Philippi when Paul wrote to that church, but it is not known 
that Paul had anything to do with their appointment. In any case, he thought 
it best to leave the Corinthians to work out an organization when it should please 
them to do so. He may have been the more inclined to this course because of 
the strongly developed individualism of the Corinthians. Whether the disorders 
of the Corinthian church would have been less, had there been bishops and 
deacons, we have no means of determining. 

§ 108. The Parties in the Church. — Four parties sprang up in 
the Corinthian church within the two years following Paul's depar- 
ture, whose watchwords were Paul, Apollos, Cephas, and Christ 



158 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

(1 Cor. 1:12). The work of Apollos in Corinth, who had come 
over from Ephesus with the approval of Aquila and Priscilla and 
other brethren, probably gave the first impulse to the formation of 
a party. It was doubtless after the departure of Apollos that some 
members of the church openly professed their allegiance to him in 
preference to Paul, and this profession led others to declare that 
Paul was their standard. Paul and Apollos had preached the same 
gospel, as the language of Paul plainly implies when he says that he 
had planted and Apollos had watered (1 Cor. 3:6). It is implied 
also in the fact that, even after the division had arisen in the church, 
Paul urged Apollos to go again to Corinth (1 Cor. 16:12). The 
basis, therefore, of the unfortunate division in the church must have 
been the manner rather than the matter of the teaching of Paul and 
Apollos. The teaching of Paul had not been in persuasive words of 
wisdom, it had not carried men along by its studied eloquence, but 
had been a plain and direct appeal to the reason and heart. Apollos, 
on the other hand, was a man of decided emotional temperament, 
a speaker of exceptional brilliancy and force (Acts 18:24, 2 5> 28). 
Since he was an Alexandrian, he may well have come under the power- 
ful influence of Philo's philosophy, in which case his teaching would 
have been the more likely to find enthusiastic adherents among the 
Greeks of Corinth. 

We may suppose that, at the time when First Corinthians was 
written, these two parties, that of Apollos and that of Paul, were 
more conspicuous than the other two. The Cephas party and the 
Christ party are barely named, and there seem to be very few allu- 
sions to them in the first letter. As to the former of these parties, 
we can only conjecture what their distinctive position was. Peter 
had not been in Corinth, and there is no evidence that he had pur- 
posely sought to have influence there. But his name and work may 
easily have become known to members of the synagogue, and it was 
probably among these that his type of teaching was held as being in 
some respect superior to that of Paul or that of Apollos. We may not 
err if we suppose that this party was mildly legalistic, their teaching 
being a half-way station between the gospel of Paul and the doctrine 
of the Christ party (cf. Pfleiderer, The Influence of the Apostle 
Paul on Christianity, Hibbert Lectures, 1885). 



LIFE OF THE CHURCH AT CORINTH 1 59 

But the Christ party, since their leaders seem to be the people 
against whom Paul directs his argument in the last four chapters of 
second Corinthians, are well known. The originators of this fac- 
tion were the same sort of people as those who unsettled the churches 
of Galatia, that is, they were judaixcrs, advocates of circumcision 
and of salvation by works of the law. The fact that when Paul 
wrote our first letter to the Corinthians he barely mentioned this 
party indicates that the messengers from Chloe had said little about 
it. It is not unlikely that the most influential judaizers had not yet 
arrived in Corinth, and that the party was still in its infancy. But 
in the interval between our first and second letters, the party, whether 
through a powerful reinforcement from abroad or by a rapid internal 
development, became the most serious menace to the church. The 
leaders claimed to be apostles and evidently laid much stress on the 
character of their appointment (2 Cor. 12:11). They of course did 
not claim to have been appointed by Christ ; but they probably rep- 
resented themselves as apostles of the mother-church at Jerusalem. 
The letters of commendation with which they seem to have been 
furnished (2 Cor. 3:1) doubtless purported to be from the authorities 
of that church. Why they called themselves by the name of Christ, 1 
whether because they claimed to have seen him in the flesh, or only 
because they claimed to represent his teaching in its purity, we can 
not tell. 

The work of these men in the Corinthian church abounded in 
personalities. They called in question Paul's apostleship (1 Cor. 9:1; 
2 Cor. 12:12, etc.); they denied that he had ever received revela- 
tions from the Lord (see 2 Cor. 12:1-11); they spoke disparagingly 
of his presence and speech, as lacking the authority which belongs 
to the apostolic consciousness (2 Cor. 10:10); they apparently put 
the same interpretation on the fact that Paul had not taken support 
from the Corinthian believers while he labored among them (2 Cor. 
11:7; 12:16-18); and they declared that he walked according to 
the flesh (2 Cor. 10:2), and lacked the signs of an apostle (2 Cor. 
12:12). These personalities Paul answered with other personalities, 

1 The view that the words "I of Christ" in 1 Cor. 1:12 give Paul's own position, 
and are not the watchword of a separate party in Corinth, is not only contrary to the 
next verse, but is also excluded by 2 Cor. 10:7. 



l6o CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

but also with a crushing weight of argument. We are not told what 
influence his letter had on this particular party, but it is plain that 
the church as a whole remained faithful to him (see, e. g., Rom. 
16:21-23; Acts 20:3). The party spirit which had developed with 
such amazing vigor, fed chiefly by the intellectual pride of the Cor- 
inthians, did not wreck the church. 

§ 109. The Survival of Gentile Immorality. — The common 
standard of immorality was probably lower in Corinth than in any 
other city in which Paul labored, unless Antioch be excepted (cf. 
Mommsen, Provinces of the Roman Empire, Vol. II, pp. 145 ff.). To 
live as a Corinthian had become a proverb. Licentiousness was 
part of the recognized service of that goddess whose temple was the 
most conspicuous in Corinth. It was not strange, therefore, that 
among the converts to Christianity there was now and then a recrudes- 
cence of gentile immorality. Two immoral tendencies had be- 
come especially prominent before the writing of the first letter, viz., 
a tendency to unchastity and a tendency to quarrelsomeness. For- 
nication seems not to have been infrequent (1 Cor. 6:12:20; 7:2; 
10:8). Even after the first letter had been received in Corinth, 
and perhaps also after Paul had again visited Corinth and had writ- 
ten another letter which is no longer extant, we learn that many 
had not repented of their uncleanness and fornication and lascivious- 
ness (2 Cor. 12:21). The culminating sin of this sort was that a 
member of the church lived in an unlawful relation with his father's 
wife, who herself, since Paul addresses no word to her, may be re- 
garded as an unbeliever. The sin was aggravated, if possible, by 
the fact that the father was still living (2 Cor. 7: 12), 1 and was appar- 
ently a member of the church. 

The most significant feature of this case was that the church, or 
at least a large number of the members, were puffed up regarding 
it (1 Cor. 5:2), yea, actually gloried in it (1 Cor. 5:6). This seems 
at first incredible, for the sin, as Paul says, was condemned even 
by the gentiles (for instances see Findlay on First Corinthians in 
The Expositor's Greek Testament). But what the church gloried 
in was not the bare sin itself. Such an assumption would be pre- 

1 It is open to question whether the offender of i Cor. 5 and that of 2 Cor. 7:8-12 
are the same person. That appears to me, on the whole, the most probable view. 



LIFE OF THE CHURCH AT CORINTH l6l 

posterous. Their standard of life had not become lower since they 
accepted the gospel, but vastly higher. They were pulled up regard- 
ing the act, and for a time defended the perpetrator of it, simply be- 
cause it illustrated the principle of liberty, which they held with 
passionate fervor but with a total lack of moral discrimination. The 
man who had married his father's wife was regarded as a sort of 
hero in the church because his act gave the boldest illustration of the 
new doctrine of individual emancipation. This was the reason why 
Paul had such hard work to carry the church with him and secure 
the punishment of the wrong-doer. They felt that a principle was at 
stake, which they were unwilling to see narrowed in the least. 

It seems most probable that the obscure passage in 2 Corinthians 2:5-11 re- 
fers to the case of incest, and not to some unknown insult offered to the apostle on 
that visit in Corinth which fell between our two letters (Weizsacker, The Apos- 
tolic Age, Vol. I, pp. 349-53). A certain punishment was, accordingly, inflicted 
on the wrong-doer, but not by the entire church; there was a minority who still 
held out against Paul's injunction (2 Cor. 2:6). Moreover, if we put a visit of 
Paul to Corinth between our first and second letters (2 Cor. 2:1, 12:14; 1 3 :i ) i 
and if we refer 2 Cor. 2 : 4 to a lost letter, both the visit and the letter seem to have 
been concerned with this sin of incest, and we have thus yet more evidence of 
the struggle which it cost the apostle to teach the Corinthians that Christian 
liberty is not license And even then many seem to have remained untaught 
(2 Cor. 12:21). 

The other outcropping of gentile immorality in the Corinthian 
church was litigiousness. Brother went to law with brother, and 
that before unbelievers. The root of this trouble seems to have been 
a spirit of covetousness. There was fraud and overreaching in the 
business relations of Christians. Those who brought lawsuits against 
their brothers rather than be defrauded were themselves open to 
prosecution for their wrong-doing. It is plain that in all such cases 
business life did not yet feel the force of the gospel which had been 
formally accepted. 

§110. Marriage versus Celibacy.— Under the influence of the 
new religious views, there soon arose in the Corinthian church a 
decided tendency toward an ascetic treatment of marriage. A strong 
revulsion of feeling from the former lax conceptions of the relati ns 
of the sexes carried some of the church far toward the other extreme 
of celibacy for the unmarried and a discontinuance of marital rela- 



1 62 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

ions between husbands and wives. The question was also discussed 
whether an unbelieving wife or husband ought not to be divorced. 
On these points, as on some others, they wrote to Paul for counsel. 
Whether this was by vote of the whole company of believers or was 
the act of a part only, we have no means of determining. 

This questioning in the Corinthian church is an evidence that 
some men were seeking in a serious manner to make application of 
the principles of the gospel, and is also evidence that their glorying in 
the act of incest was, as we sought to show in the last paragraph, 
not an indication of sympathy with the relation itself but of their 
hysterical devotion to what they imagined was Christian liberty. 

It is not in accord with the plan of this work to go into a detailed study of 
Paul's teaching on the subject of marriage, but we shall simply consider it with 
a view to learning the thought and spirit of the Corinthian believers. Paul be- 
gins with the declaration that it is good, morally becoming and right, to live in 
celibacy. The form of the statement seems to imply that the Corinthians had 
put the question regarding the advisability of celibacy as though expecting an 
affirmative answer. But though Paul admits that celibacy is good, he thinks it 
it not wise for his Corinthian converts as a whole (i Cor. 7:2). And he indicates 
plainly why he regards it as good, viz., because of the present distress (vs. 26; 
2 Thess. 2:2). The work of the Lord was considered to be urgent because the 
end of the age was thought to be near, and for this reason it seemed advisable for 
the unmarried to remain as they were, provided that they had the gift of con- 
tinency. Paul did not lay down a general principle that celibacy is morally be- 
coming, still less that it is preferable to the married state, or even necessary to the 
attainment of holiness. 

To those who were married to unbelievers Paul applied the principle, recog- 
nized by Jesus, that the marriage bond is indissoluble. If the unbelieving hus- 
band or wife chose to depart, it was to be allowed, but evidently Paul inclined 
to the view that the believing member of the household should seek to hold the 
unbelieving member rather than to promote his departure by cold treatment. 
There was hope that the unbelieving member would be won over to the gospel. 
And this exhortation to those who had unbelieving wives or husbands, that they 
should continue in their present state, was addressed also to those who were 
questioning in regard to circumcision and the duty of Christian slaves. The 
presence or absence of circumcision, Paul wrote, was not a matter to be discussed 
as though it pertained to godliness, and the Christian slave, seeing that he was 
the Lord's freeman, was not to be troubled by his servitude to an earthly master. 1 

1 The translation of 1 Cor. 7:21ft is uncertain. Vss. 20 and 24 favor the view 
that Paul would have the Christian slave remain with his master even though he had 
an opportunity to become free. 



LIFE OF THE CHURCH AT CORINTH 1 63 

§111. The Use of Sacrificial Meat. — In regard to the use of 
sacrificial meat there were two views among the Corinthian believers. 
It is plain that the majority had, or thought they had, " knowledge" 
regarding idols, and did not scruple to eat the sacrificial meat. The 
question, therefore, was not raised by these on their own account, 
but on account of certain persons who hesitated to use such meat. 
These are referred to by Paul as those who had not knowledge, 
or as those whose consciences were weak, or simply as the weak. 
The question may have come from this minority orginally, but it is 
obvious that they who wrote the letter to Paul were not of the "weak." 
Their view of the matter can be seen through Paul's reply. They 
felt that an idol was naught, and therefore the meat which had been 
sacrificed remained just the same as it had been before. One could 
eat it without hesitation; and evidently this is what they did. And 
they were inclined to look upon those who shrank from using the 
sacrificial meat as being rather stupid. Paul agreed with them that 
an idol is naught, but said it was not enough to recognize this fact; 
that there was something yet more important in its bearing on their 
conduct, and that was their brother's good. In itself it was not 
wrong to sit at meat in an idol's house, but it was wrong if thereby a 
brother's conscience was wounded. 

Believers were not required to ask about meat when they went 
to the markets to buy (i Cor. 10:23 — J1 : x )- That would be an un- 
necessary concession to the weak brother. But when they were 
eating in another's house, the house of an unbeliever, and it was told 
them that the meat was sacrificial, they should refrain from eating 
on account of the other's conscience. The word employed here to 
designate the meat (Up60vrov } not el8co\6dvrov) indicates that the 
information regarding it was assumed to come from an unbeliever, 
either from the host himself, or, more probably, from a guest. 
What the motive could be in such a case is not altogether clear, but 
Paul appears to suggest that it might be the unbeliever's conscience, 
and that for this reason he counseled abstinence. 

§ 112. Women in Public Worship. — We have no means of ascer- 
taining what proportion of the Corinthian church were women, but 
it is plain that the women of that church, whether more or less in 
number, were conspicuous in the meetings for worship. The doc- 



164 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

trine of liberty was illustrated by the fact that women participated 
freely with the men in public prayer and prophecy, which was in 
harmony, indeed, with Paul's teaching that in Christ Jesus there 
can be neither Jew nor Greek, neither bond nor free, neither male nor 
female. The apostle never laid any restriction on woman's par- 
ticipation in worship, either in Corinth or elsewhere. For when he 
enjoined on the Corinthian women to keep silence in the churches 
(1 Cor. 14:34, 35; cf. 1 Tim. 2:11, 12), the context shows that the 
speaking which was prohibited was not praying or prophesying, that 
is, not participating in public worship, but speaking to "learn. " 
This may have been a forward asking of questions. 1 It certainly 
was not participation in worship. 

There was, however, one point in the participation of Corinthian 
women in public worship of which Paul decidedly disapproved, that 
is, their praying and prophesying with unveiled heads. This was 
allowed by the Greeks in their worship (see Meyer's Commentary 
on First Corinthians 11:5), and hence it was perfectly natural that 
the Greek converts retained the custom. But it was contrary to the 
practice of the synagogue, in which women were veiled, though they 
did not take part in the service. Paul may have been prejudiced 
against the custom of the Greek women because of his training in the 
synagogue. But his arguments against it were general in character. 
He claimed that it showed a lack of subordination to man and also 
that it was contrary to nature, for nature by giving women long hair 
indicates that her head should be covered. One can not blame 
the Corinthian women if they failed to be convinced by these argu- 
ments. But here, as in so many other cases, we do not know what 
effect Paul's directions had. 

§113. Spiritual Gifts, especially Prophecy and Speaking with 
Tongues (Glossolaly). — No feature of the religious life of the Cor- 
inthians stirred Paul more deeply than that of their spiritual gifts 
(charisms). There appears to have been among them a singular 
wealth of manifestations which they attributed to the Holy Spirit. 
This was seen in the gatherings for public worship, where one con- 
tributed an original psalm, another some teaching, a third a revela- 

1 For other explanations see Findlay in The Expositor's Greek Testament, Vol. 
II, p. 914. 



LIFE OF THE CHURCH AT CORINTH 165 

tion, yet another spoke in a tongue, and another had the gift of inter- 
preting tongues. Nor does this list exhaust the spiritual manifes- 
tations in the Corinthian church. One man was distinguished for 
his remarkable faith, another had the gift of healing, a third wrought 
miracles, a fourth prophesied, and another could discern spirits. It 
is not strange that in this wealth of spiritual activities there was 
sometimes doubt whence they came. In their letter to Paul, the 
Corinthians asked how they could recognize the Spirit, and he in his 
reply gave them a very general practical test (i Cor. 12:3). 

It is plain that the "spiritual" gifts of the Corinthian believers 
were not altogether for their spiritual good. They promoted pride 
and an unspiritual comparing of gift with gift, as though there were 
many Holy Spirits, one working in this manner and another in that. 
They also rendered the public gatherings for worship disorderly, 
for one was apt to assume that his special communication was of 
more importance than his brother's, and hence he did not hesitate 
to interrupt his brother. 

The lack of a sane and spiritual estimate of the gifts was particu- 
larly shown in the fact that few cared to prophesy (i. e., teach), 
but many desired to speak with tongues. Now this speaking with 
tongues was an inarticulate utterance of emotion, wholly meaning- 
less without an interpreter. The speaker was beside himself; his 
understanding was unfruitful. To outsiders he appeared like a 
mad man. Paul considered it childish that the Corinthians were so 
eager to have this gift, the most spectacular of all, but also the one 
of least practical value. He wished them rather to cultivate the 
gift of prophecy, or better still, to cultivate love (cf. Gal. 5:22, 23), 
for Paul did not think of the Spirit as specially manifest in strange 
or supernatural works, but rather as the Spirit of the new life through- 
out (cf. Wood, The Spirit of God in Biblical Literature, pp. 
203-6). 

§114. Denial of the Resurrection. — The most important doc- 
trinal feature of the Corinthian church was a denial of the resur- 
rection. How general this was we can not learn from Paul's letter. 
He simply says there were "some" (nves) among his readers 
who held this view. It is most unfortunate that we do not know 
more fully what these skeptical Christians thought on the subject 



/V 



1 66 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

of the resurrection. Did they deny the immortality of the soul? 
Did they say that the gospel was good only for this life? Or did 
they simply deny a resurrection of the material body, but hold the 
immortality of the soul ? Were they influenced by the philosophy 
of the Stoics, who believed in the soul but denied its conscious exist- 
ence after death, or by the philosophy of the Epicureans who denied 
the existence of the soul altogether, or by the philosophy of Plato 
who taught that the soul is immortal ? 

They evidently admitted the resurrection of Jesus (i Cor. 15:12), 
and presumably in the form in which Paul had taught it. It would 
seem, therefore, as though they must have admitted that man, or at 
least a good man, may have a conscious life after death. But, on 
the other hand, Paul speaks as though their doctrine were dangerous 
to good morals ( 1 Cor. 15:33), and as though it lessened one's in- 
terest in the work of the Lord (1 Cor. 15:58), which statements 
seem to imply that their denial of the resurrection was understood 
by Paul to involve a denial also of immortality. And Paul himself, 
moreover, did not believe in the resurrection of the material body. 
What is raised, he says, is not flesh and blood; it is not material, 
but spiritual. If, then, the skeptical Corinthians merely denied a 
physical resurrection, they might still have been in substantial agree- 
ment with Paul; but his language does not encourage us to believe 
that this was the case. 

On the whole, therefore, it seems probable that those among 
the Corinthian believers who said that there is no resurrection were 
at least skeptical on the subject of immortality, if they did not posi- 
tively affirm that death ends all. They were virtually of the same 
mind with the people of the neighboring city of Athens who mocked 
at the thought of a -resurrection (Acts 17:32). On what grounds the 
Corinthian believers set aside the doctrine of resurrection we do not 
know. It is suggested by 1 Cor. 15:35 that they considered it irra- 
tional, but this may have been affirmed by them of physical resur- 
rection only. It is highly suggestive that they accepted the proof 
which Paul gave of the resurrection of Jesus. Their position would 
have been immeasurably strengthened could they have shown good 
reason for rejecting that proof. But there is no evidence that it was 
even questioned by them. Paul's entire argument rests on the 



LIFE OF THK CHURCH AT CORINTH 1 67 

assumption that his readers agree with him in regard to the resur- 
rection of Jesus. 

§ 115. Sacred Ordinances. — We complete our survey of the inner 
life of the Corinthian church with some reference to their observance 
of baptism and the Lord's supper. 

Paul had treated baptism as a matter of secondary importance 
while laboring in Corinth, as he did elsewhere. He was not sent 
to baptize, but to preach the gospel (i Cor. 1:17). He had indeed, 
baptized Crispus and Gaius, also the household of Stephanas, but 
the baptism of the rest of his converts had been left to other hands. 

After Paul went away, the Corinthians came to attach greater 
significance to baptism. This is evident from the custom of being 
baptized for the dead, to which we have incidental allusion. It 
appears that certain Corinthian believers received the rite of baptism 
on behalf of their departed friends, who of course had not been bap- 
tized, who, indeed, may have died before Paul came to Corinth. 
Since there were no officers in the Corinthian church, no elder or 
deacon, we must suppose that the rite was administered either by 
the head of the family or by some prominent member of the church 
like Stephanas. Now this practice obviously involved peculiar and 
utterly un-Pauline conceptions of baptism. It would not have oc- 
curred to people to be baptized for their dead friends if they had not 
believed that the rite was in itself efficacious, a saving ordinance. 
The power or virtue of it was also thought of as transferable from 
one person to another, and even from the living to the dead. Thus 
we see that the rite had come to be thought of in a most unspiritual 
manner, as being little more than a superior sort of magic. The 
incidental way in which Paul alludes to the practice may indicate 
that it was as yet only an exceptional phenomenon in Corinth. 

The method of observing the Lord's Supper in Corinth affords 
a startling proof of the crass immaturity and unspirituality of the 
church. In the first place, the common meal with which the Supper 
was associated appears to have been the important thing, and little 
thought was given to the Supper itself. But even this common meal 
was kept in an utterly unbrotherly and un- Christian manner. It 
was not eaten in common, with any regard for its symbolic character 
its illustration of the truth of Christian fellowship, but it was like 



1 68 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

any other meal of the day, an eating and drinking to satisfy the crav- 
ings of appetite. Each had regard to his own hunger and thirst. 
Some of the more prosperous members drank to excess, and some 
of the poor went away from the gathering hungry. In what manner 
these people afterward partook of the Lord's Supper we are not told. 
As they ate in separate groups, and at different times, we may sup- 
pose that they partook of the symbolical bread and wine in the same 
fashion. From the fact that Paul gave them again in his letter an 
account of the institution of the Supper, it may be inferred with 
much probability that their observance was seriously defective. This 
is also evident from the circumstance that Paul thought of the cases 
of sickness and death in the Corinthian church as a divine judgment 
caused by their profanation of the Supper. We must, therefore, 
suppose not only that the common meal was kept in an unbecoming 
way, but also that the memorial celebration of the Lord's death was 
practically emptied of its meaning. 

As to the time when the members of the church in Corinth met 
for the Lord's Supper we get no certain information from the letter. 
When speaking of the collection for the saints in Jerusalem, Paul 
assumed that the church met on the first day of the week (i Cor. 
16:2), and it is probable that the Supper was a part of the service at 
this meeting. It was perhaps in the evening, as was the meeting in 
Troas at which the Supper was celebrated (Acts 20:7), the time 
when the members were naturally most free from business cares. 
The language of Paul indicates that the Supper was observed at 
each meeting (1 Cor. 11:20). 

§116. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) Name some 
prominent Jews and Romans in the Corinthian church. (2) What 
inference regarding the constituency of the church may be drawn 
from the character of the city ? (3) What was the social and finan- 
cial standing of the membership of the church. (4) What indica- 
tions have we of the size of the Corinthian church ? (5) What was 
the condition with regard to organization ? 

(6) How many parties were there in the Corinthian church, and 
what were their watchwords ? (7) Describe the origin of the parties 
of Paul and Apollos. (8) What was probably the character of the 



LIFE OF THE CHURCH AT CORINTH 1 69 

Cephas party ? (9) Where do we find the leaders of the Christ party 
described? (10) Why is there so little about them in the first letter? 
(11) What did the leaders claim for themselves ? (12) How did they 
work against Paul? (13) What effect did Paul's letters have on 
the party spirit in Corinth ? 

(14) What was the moral condition of Corinth? (15) What par- 
ticular form of gentile immorality soon appeared in the church ? 
(16) How did the church regard the case of incest? (17) How is 
their attitude toward it to be explained ? (18) What evidence is 
there that Paul had a hard struggle to carry his point in this matter ? 
(19) What was the root of litigiousness among the Corinthian be- 
lievers ? 

(20) What tendency of thought regarding marriage did Christian- 
ity produce in Corinth? (21) What questions regarding it had the 
Corinthian believers sent to Paul? (22) What did he say on the 
general principle ? How did he justify his view ? (23) What did 
he say regarding cases where either husband or wife was an un- 
believer ? 

(24) W T hat two views were held at Corinth regarding sacrificial 
meat? (25) How did the majority feel in regard to its use? (26) 
What fundamental principle did Paul lay down to guide his converts ? 

(27) Describe the case of a Christian at dinner with an unbeliever. 

(28) What was the place of women in public worship in Corinth ? 

(29) Did Paul seek to narrow this liberty ? (30) What did he object 
to in the matter of woman's dress in public worship, and why ? 

(31) What spiritual gifts were found in the Corinthian church? 
(32) How did the wealth of gifts work injury ? (33) What gift was 
most sought ? (34) Describe this gift. (35) How did the Corinth- 
ians expect the Spirit to manifest itself ? 

(36) What was Paul's view on this point ? (37) What important 
doctrinal error was there in the Corinthian church? (38) How 
widely was it held ? (39) What reasons are there for thinking that 
those who denied the resurrection did not believe in immortality ? 
(40) How did they regard the resurrection of Jesus ? 

(41) How did Paul regard baptism in comparison with preaching 
the gospel? (42) What practice arose in the church of Corinth in 
reference to the dead ? (43) What conception of baptism did this 



170 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

practice imply? (44) How was the common meal observed in the 
Corinthian church ? (45) How did they observe the Lord's Supper ? 
(46) What proofs are there that the Supper had been emptied of its 
meaning ? (47) What is probable regarding the time of the observance 
of the Lord's Supper ? (48) Is there any party spirit in the church 
of today like that which we see in Corinth ? (49) Is Paul's method 
of dealing with the party spirit of value now? (50) Has the church 
outgrown gentile immoralities? (51) Is the position of woman in 
modern church work in line with Paul's principles ? (52) What was 
there in a meeting of Corinthian believers for worship that you think 
would appeal to you ? 

§ 117. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Lit- 
erature. 

1. Write a chapter on the life of the Corinthian church, having 
an outline somewhat as follows: General survey of the church as 
to size, organization, and character; conspicuous defects of the 
church; prominent questions under discussion; description of a 
meeting for worship. 

2. On the general subject of organization see: 

Hatch, The Organization of the Early Christian Churches, and Thatcher, 
A Sketch of the History of the Apostolic Church, pp. 288-300. 

3. On the parties in the church at Corinth see : 
Weizsacksr, The Apostolic Age, Vol. I, pp. 325-33. 

4. On the position and dress of women in Greece read: 
Becker, Charicles, pp. 413-44, 462-98. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

CHRISTIANITY IN ROME AS REFLECTED IN PAUL'S LETTER 

TO THE ROMANS 

SYNOPSIS 

§118. Paul in Macedonia and Achaia. Acts 20: 1-3; 2 Cor. 2:12, 13; 7:5-16; 

Acts 19:22; 2 Cor. 9:2; 1 Cor. 

16:1; 2 Cor. 8:6, 18, 22 
§ 1 19. The early history of the Roman church. 
§ 120. Constituency and organization. 

§ 121. The "strong" and the "weak." Rom. 14:1 — 15:13 

§ 122. Those who caused divisions. Rom. 16:17-20 

§ 118. Paul in Macedonia and Achaia. — Before the riot of Deme- 
trius occurred, Paul had purposed to leave Ephesus in the near 
future. Luke tells us that he proposed to visit Macedonia and 
Achaia, thence go to Jerusalem, and after that to Rome and Spain 
(Acts 19:21). And this statement is supported by what Paul says 
in the letter to the Romans, written within a few months after he left 
Ephesus, namely, that he had longed to come to Rome for many 
years (Rom. 1:13). Thus it appears that, in spite of his exhausting 
labors in Ephesus with their many perils and sufferings, he was 
contemplating longer journeys and greater undertakings in the in- 
terest of the gospel. 

Prior to the interruption of his work in Ephesus, Paul had sent 
Timothy and Erastus into Macedonia, probably in the interest of 
the collection which he was making for the mother-church in Jeru- 
salem. This had been in progress in Achaia for about a year (2 
Cor. 9:2), and was also being made in Galatia (1 Cor. 16:1). Paul's 
proposed visit to Jerusalem was to convey this collection. At the pri- 
vate conference in Jerusalem, Paul had been urged by the leaders of 
the church to remember the poor, that is, the poor of the Jewish- 
Christian church, and the collection which he was about to com- 
plete as he left Ephesus was the first response to that request of 
which we know. 1 Paul felt that it was quite right that the gentiles, 

1 Gal. 2 : 10 may possibly suggest that Paul had been mindful of the poor in Jeru- 
salem even before the conference, but this interpretation on the whole does not seem 
probable. 

171 



172 CHRISTIANITY IN THE * APOSTOLIC AGE 

even though poor, should make this offering because it was from 
the Jewish believers that they had received the gospel (Rom. 
15:27). He doubtless hoped also that this practical manifesta- 
tion of a Christian spirit on the part of the gentile believers would 
help to bind more closely together the two great divisions of the 
church. 

As Timothy and Erastus seem to have been sent into Macedonia to 
work for the collection, so Titus with two unnamed persons had 
charge of the business in Corinth (2 Cor. 8:6, 18, 22). Paul speaks 
of having given orders to the churches of Galatia (1 Cor. 16: 1), either 
when he was last there before coming to Ephesus, or, perhaps, by 
letter from Ephesus, and this order may have covered the appoint- 
ment of delegates to take charge of the funds. Paul did not receive 
any of this money into his own hands, nor did he make personal 
solicitation for it except by letter. From various circumstances we 
infer that this contribution for the mother-church was large. This 
is suggested, in the first place, by the fact that it was general, coming 
from the churches of Galatia, Macedonia, and Achaia, also from 
the province of Asia, if we regard Tychicus and Trophimus as dele- 
gates (Acts 21:29; 20:4). It was being gathered through a period 
of about two years, and was conveyed to Jerusalem by a company 
of at least seven men besides Paul. And, finally, Paul tells us that 
some of the churches which contributed gave far beyond their power 
(2 Cor. 8:3). All these facts suggest a large offering. 

The course of Paul when he left Ephesus was determined not 
only by the collection but also by anxiety for the church at Corinth. 
Disquieting reports had reached him in Ephesus which had occa- 
sioned two letters to the Corinthian church, one of which is no longer 
extant (1 Cor. 5:9), while the other is our first letter to the Corinth- 
ians. This had been sent by Titus, and when Paul had come into 
Macedonia he waited until Titus came to him, reporting the condi- 
tion of affairs in Corinth. He had expected to meet Titus in Troas 
(2 Cor. 2:12), but failing in this expectation he came on into Mace- 
donia (2 Cor. 2 : 13). Here at length he met him, received an encour- 
aging report about the Corinthian church, and thereupon wrote to it 
another letter. His tour among the Macedonian churches of which 
Luke speaks (Acts 20: 2) doubtless followed the return of Titus, for 



CHRISTIANITY IN ROME 1 73 

before that time he was in no condition to visit and exhort them 
(2 Cor. 2:13; 7:5-16). 

From Macedonia Paul went into Achaia where lie spent three 
months (Acts 20:3). He was entertained by Gaius, in whose house 
he probably wrote the letter to the Romans (Rom. 16:23). We are 
not told how Paul spent these three months, but considering the 
state of the church in the recent past, it is most likely that he de- 
voted himself to its establishment in the faith. From the fact that 
the Jews conspired to kill him we may infer that he made his influ- 
ence felt in the city (Acts 20:3). 

§ 1 19. Early History of the Roman Church. — The fragmentariness 
of our records of the apostolic age is nowhere more strikingly illus- 
trated than in the fact that we know nothing of the fortunes of Chris- 
tianity in the metropolis of the world until nearly a generation after 
the resurrection. We are told that both Jews and proselytes from 
Rome heard the preaching of Peter in Jerusalem at Pentecost (Acts 
2:10), and it is altogether probable that within six months of that 
time some of those Jews and proselytes who had been converted 
and baptized were back in Rome. During the 26 years that elapsed 
before Paul wrote to the Roman believers, there were doubtless many 
Christians from the East who visited Rome, both in the way of busi- 
ness and as evangelists. But if the seed of the gospel was not planted 
in Rome by some who had been in Jerusalem at Pentecost, it is 
almost necessary to think that it was planted there soon after the 
martyrdom of Stephen, when messengers went forth in all directions 
and a gentile church was established in Antioch. If men of Cyrene 
in North Africa were drawn to Antioch, so doubtless were others 
drawn to Rome. There was easy and constant intercourse between 
Rome and her provinces, and no people were more given to travel 
than the Jews, who also were the most widely scattered of all the 
peoples (cf. Sanday and Headlam, Commentary on Romans, p. 418). 

We must suppose, then, that there had been disciples of Jesus in 
Rome for a period of twelve or fifteen years before Paul's letter, if 
not for a much longer time. But who first told the story of Jesus in 
the capital of the world and gathered the first little circle of believers, 
whether it was a Jew or a proselyte, a native of Rome or a traveling 
evangelist, no one can tell. This, however, appears to be clear, that 



174 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

the Roman believers at the time when Paul wrote to them were 
Christians of his type, 1 and not of the conservative legalistic sort (see 
e. g., Rom. 1:8, n, 12; 15:14). 

§ 120. Constituency and Organization. — The Christian com- 
munity in Rome was mainly composed of gentiles. If its original 
nucleus had been Jews, as was perhaps the case, the time had long 
since passed when they were in the majority. Paul repeatedly as- 
sumes that his readers are gentiles (see 1 : 13; 10:1; 11:13, 28515:16), 
not exclusively but predominantly. When he said: "I speak to 
men who know the law," and again: " Ye were made dead to the law 
through the body of Christ " (7 : 1, 4), he doubtless had in mind the Jew- 
ish element among his readers. This element is represented in the list 
of greetings by Aquila and Herodion, probably also by Priscilla; 
and the members of the household of Aristobulus who are saluted 
were doubtless Jews, if this Aristobulus was the grandson of Herod 
the Great, as is supposed. Mary, too, may have been a Jewess, 
and of course it is possible that some of the persons who bore Greek 
and Roman names were nevertheless Jews. Jesus who was sur- 
named Justus, who sent greetings in the letter to the Colossians, is 
more likely to have been a member of the Roman congregation whom 
Paul found in Rome than a convert whom he himself made there. 
As far, then, as we may judge of the entire company of believers in 
Rome by the list of names in chapter 16, we may rate the Jewish 
element at about one-seventh of the whole. 

The Roman believers at the time of Paul's letter to them appear to have had 
no formal organization whatever. Paul does not address them as a church. 
There is no trace of a bishop or a deacon. This was found to be the case in 
respect to the church at Corinth also, but it is more remarkable in Rome because 
the gospel had been planted there many years. There seem to have been at 
least three companies of Roman believers, viz., those who met in the home of 
Aquila and Priscilla, those who were associated with the five brethren, Asyn- 
critus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, and Hermas, and, finally, the group of whom 
Paul mentions Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas. The fact 
that there were three Christian circles in Rome suggests that there was a relatively 
large number of believers there, more than could meet conveniently in one home 
or in two. In each of these three groups there was probably one person and 
perhaps more than one, who had preponderating influence and who were looked 

1 This suggests what indeed is probable on other grounds, that in the Roman 
congregation there were converts of Paul from the cities of Greece and Asia Minor. 



CHRISTIANITY IN ROME 1 75 

up to as leaders. Aquila and Priscilla were probably the leaders in their home- 
church, Asyncritus may have been the most prominent in the second group, 
Philologus and Julia in the third. But these people, if they were the leaders of 
the three Roman congregations, were such solely by virtue of their services and 
gifts, not by formal appointment. 

Those of the Roman fellowship whose labor for the gospel in 
Rome is especially mentioned by the apostle were all women, with 
the exception of Aquila. Of two of these women — Mary and Persis 
— Paul speaks as though their labor belonged chiefly to the past, and 
we may think of them as having retired from active work on account 
of age or some other infirmity; the remaining three — Priscilla, Try- 
phena, and Tryphosa — were still in active service. But there is no 
suggestion that these women were clothed with any official power 
by the Roman believers. They were simply persons whose zeal 
and ability had given them an honorable prominence among the 
brethren. 

§ 121. The " Strong" and the "Weak."— When Paul speaks of the 
"strong" and the "weak" in his letter to the Romans we are con- 
strained to see local coloring in his words, and not merely an echo of 
past experiences. For, so far as we know from earlier letters, he had 
met no Christians who, for conscience' sake, were vegetarians, as were 
the weak in Rome. There were divisions in the Corinthian church 
on the matter of eating sacrificial meat, but we hear of no one who 
was opposed to eating any meat whatsoever. Since then we find 
a new phenomenon in the Roman letter, and since the language 
of Paul is just such as we should expect if he had had actual facts 
of the Roman church in mind, we ought not to say that he is 
generalizing. 

The party of the weak in Rome were a minority (14:1). They 
ate herbs and abstained from the use of wine (14:2, 21). They 
also esteemed one day above another (14:5). They judged those 
who ate flesh and drank wine and esteemed all days alike (14:3). 
Now as the Jews were not forbidden to eat flesh or to drink wine, 
we are probably not to regard the weak as Jewish Christians. They 
were gentiles who took up an ascetic position with reference to meat 
and wine, as certain Corinthians had done with reference to marriage. 
The reasons which they gave for their view are scarcely indicated. 



176 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

They appear to have regarded meat as unclean in itself (14:14), 
but we are not told why. The reason of their opposition to wine is 
not at all suggested. Their esteeming one day above another was 
hardly the same as the Jewish regard for feast days, which we find 
among the Galatians (Gal. 4:10). This was simply a detail of the 
observance of the law, and did not imply that the particular day 
was in itself different from other days. But the Roman believers 




THE INTERIOR OF AN ITALIAN HOUSE OF THE FIRST CENTURY (POMPEII) 

who are styled "weak" appear to have held precisely this notion. 
The "strong" esteemed all days alike (14:5). That, of course, 
does not mean that they did not meet for worship on the first day 
of the week. There was no company of gentile Christians, so far 
as we know, who did not keep this day holy, as Jewish Christians 
kept the Sabbath. Therefore the statement that the "strong" in 
Rome esteemed all days alike means that they attached no peculiar 
sacredness to one day in comparison with others. Accordingly 
the position of the "weak" was, by contrast, that peculiar sacred- 



CHRISTIANITY IN ROME 1 77 

ness does attach to a certain day. We are not told what particular 
day or days the "weak" esteemed; it is not improbable that the 
regular day of worship was included. 

§ 122. Those Who Caused Divisions. — The people who were caus- 
ing divisions in the Roman church when Paul wrote are described 
in general terms, no one of which makes it plain who they were. 
They claimed to be Christians; they used smooth and fair speech; 
their doctrine was evil; and Paul seems to refer to their overthrow 
when he says that God shall bruise "Satan" under the feet of the 
faithful shortly (16:17-20). All these characteristics fit the juda- 
izers, though it can not be said that they necessarily require us to 
think of these opponents of Paul. Perhaps the most illuminating 
term in the description is "Satan." This appears to point to the 
judaizers because, in the first place, it was against the judaizers 
that Paul used the strongest language of condemnation (e. g., Gal. 
1:8, 9; 5:12: 6:12, 13), and second, he called the Corinthian juda- 
izers "messengers" of Satan. 

In the letter to the Philippians which was written from Rome, 
Paul speaks of some persons who were preaching Christ of envy and 
strife, thinking thereby to raise up affliction for him (Phil. 1 115, 17), 
This language also points to judaizers, for there were no other people 
who, professing to be Christians, preached in opposition to Paul. 
This Philippian passage, therefore, is an argument for understand- 
ing Rom. 16:17-20 as referring to judaizers. 

Finally, the doctrinal portion of the letter to the Romans seems to 
imply that there was a Jewish propaganda in the Roman church. 
Had not Paul known that there were judaizing influences at work 
there, it is difficult to believe that he would have admitted so large a 
controversial element into his letter. He would hardly have done 
this to provide for a possible future peril. 

It is not necessary to dwell on this controversial element. It lies on the sur- 
face in many places. Why, e. g., should Paul prove that the Jews were in need of 
salvation by faith (chap. 2) unless there were those in Rome who were insisting 
upon the necessity of works of the law ? Why should he argue that his doctrine 
of salvation by faith "established" the law unless there were those who said that 
it made the law of none effect (3:31) ? Why, in a letter to the Romans, should 
he insist upon his love for the Jewish people unless there were those in Rome 
who said that he was a renegade and no true Jew (9:1, 2; 10: 1) ? It will at 



178 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

least be admitted that such passages as these have added point and significance 
if Paul was dealing with concrete facts and not indulging in abstract generalities. 
Moreover, all other letters of Paul deal with local conditions, with certain definite 
questions and persons, and hence there is a presumption that this was the case 
with the letter to Romans. We are to hold, then, that those who were causing divi- 
sions in Rome were none other than Paul's old enemies the judaizers. 

§ 123. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) When did 
people from Rome first hear the gospel? (2) What reasons are 
there for thinking that the Roman church must have been founded 
as early at least as 44 A. d. ? (3) State the evidence for regarding 
that church as essentially gentile. (4) How large a Jewish element 
might we infer from the list of greetings ? (5) How many centers 
does the Christian community in Rome appear to have had? (6) 
Whom may we regard as the leaders of these circles ? (7) Who are 
greeted by Paul as prominent in Christian service in Rome ? 

(8) Why are we to regard the passage on the " strong" and the 
"weak" as reflecting actual conditions in the Roman church? (9) 
Describe the weak. (10) Why can we not hold them to have been 
Jews? (11) How did their esteem for days differ from that of the 
Galatian Christians ? 

(12) Describe the people who caused divisions in the Roman 
church ? (13) What reasons are there for considering them judaizers ? 
(14) What is the bearing of the letter to the Philippians on this 
point? (15) What bearing upon it has the general character of the 
letter to the Romans ? 

§ 124. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Lit- 
erature. 

1. Write a chapter on the origin and life of the Church at Rome 
as it is reflected in the letter to the Romans. 

2. On the local color to be found in the letter to the Romans read: 

Weizsacker, The Apostolic Age, Vol. II, pp. 104; also Sandav and 
Headlam in the International Critical Commentary on Romans, Introduction, 
pp. xxxix-xliv. 

3. Look up the names and locations of all individuals mentioned 
by Paul who had a church in their house. 



PART IV 
THE LAST YEARS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL 



CHAPTER XIX 

PAUL'S LAST VISIT TO JERUSALEM 
SYNOPSIS 

§ 125. The journey from Corinth to Jerusalem. Acts 20:4-21:16 

§ 126. Paul's reception by the church in Jerusalem. Acts 21:17-26 

§ 127. Paul's arrest in Jerusalem. Acts 21:27-36 

§ 128. The address from the castle stairs. Acts 21:37 — 22:29 

§ 129. Paul before the Sanhedrin. Acts 22:30 — 23:11 

§ 130. Paul's removal to Caesarea. Acts 23:12-35 

§ 125. The Journey from Corinth to Jerusalem. — The discovery 
of the plot of the Jews changed Paul's plan of travel. He decided 
to go back through Macedonia instead of taking ship for Jerusalem 
from Corinth. According to Luke there were at least seven men who 
accompanied him from Corinlh (Acts 20: 4), whom we are to regard as 
delegates of the churches to carry the collection to Jerusalem (1 Cor. 
16:3, 4; Acts 21 129). It appears then that these men had gathered 
in Corinth, expecting to take ship there for Syria. If this was indeed 
the case, it suggests that the fact which occasioned the change of 
plan was of exceeding gravity, for that change meant that all the 
seven were to retrace their steps, some of whom had journeyed several 
hundred miles to reach Corinth. One important consequence of 
Paul's change of plan was that Luke was added to the company. 
This addition is inferred from the "we" of Acts 20:6. The narrative 
which has been in the third person since the account of Paul's work 
in Philippi now continues in the first person. Whether Luke went 
as a delegate from the Philippian church does not appear. 

From Philippi Paul and Luke seem to have journeyed alone to 
Troas, the others having gone on ahead for some unknown reason. 
In Troas, where Paul had desired to stop for a time when he left 
Ephesus (2 Cor. 2:12), and where there was now a company of be- 
lievers, he and his fellow-travelers tarried a week. The narrative 
of this visit is especially interesting because of its reference to the 
observance of the Lord's Supper. The Christians of Troas and 
their guests met for this on Sunday evening. Paul gave an address 

181 



1 82 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

which lasted until midnight, and then after the Supper he continued 
his discourse until break of day. This observance of the Supper, 
like the first, took place in an upper chamber of a private house, and 
in the night. The incident of Eutychus, who went to sleep under 
Paul's preaching and fell out of the window, we would gladly have 
done without if Luke had told us in its place the particular manner 
in which they observed the Supper, or what Paul said as they took 
the bread and wine. 

From Troas Paul went on foot, and apparently alone, about 
twenty miles, to Assos, while Luke and the others went around the 
Lectum Promontory by ship. Paul met the ship at Assos, and then 
all proceeded together to Miletus, the metropolis of Ionia, about 
thirty-five miles from Ephesus, at the mouth of the Meander River. 
Here they stopped long enough to have a meeting with the elders of 
the Ephesian church whom Paul summoned on his arrival. From 
his address on this occasion it appears that the apprehension which 
he had felt when writing from Corinth to Rome (Rom. 15:30, 31) 
had become deeper. He now felt that bonds and afflictions awaited 
him. To what this deepening of apprehension was due we do not 
know. It may have come simply from the fact that he was drawing 
nearer and nearer to Jerusalem. 

From Miletus they continued their journey by way of the islands 
of Cos and Rhodes to Patara of Lycia, where they left their first 
ship and took one bound for the Phoenician coast. Having reached 
Tyre, they went ashore and spent a week with the Christian com- 
munity of that city. When or by whom this Tyrian church was 
founded we do not know, possibly by Paul himself (see Gal 1:21). 
In this place Paul, who presumably had told his friends that his 
mind was filled with dark foreboding in regard to the outcome of his 
journey, was besought not to go to Jerusalem, and they who besought 
him thought that they had the sanction of the Holy Spirit for their 
counsel. 

After a pathetic separation from the Christians of Tyre, Paul and 
his company came to Ptolemais, twenty miles further south, where 
they stopped one day and saluted the brethren; and then after a sail 
of twenty-five miles they reached the end of their sea-voyage at 
Caesarea. Here they tarried some days with Philip the evangelist. 



Paul's last visit to Jerusalem 183 

It is possible that Paul's arrival in Caesarea was reported in Jeru- 
salem, and that this report led the prophet Agabus to go down to 
Caesarea to meet Paul. Doubtless this was the same prophet whom 
Paul had met in Antioch in the year 44 A. d. He now assured Paul 
that the Jews would deliver him into the hands of the gentiles. This 
dark prophecy led the companions of Paul and also the Christians 
of Caesarea to urge him not to go to Jerusalem. But Paul withstood 
their entreaties and continued his journey, it having been arranged 
before leaving Caesarea that Paul and his companions should lodge 
in Jerusalem with a Cypriote Jew by the name of Mnason. 

§126. Paul's Reception by the Church in Jerusalem. — The 
account which Luke gives of Paul's reception by the church in Jeru- 
salem is disappointing. It does, indeed, say that the brethren re- 
ceived him and his companions gladly, and also that the elders 
glorified God when Paul had rehearsed the story of his gentile min- 
istry before them; but there is no word about the offering which he 
had long been gathering and which the brethren of various pro- 
vinces had now brought up to the mother church. We are not told 
whether this ministration was acceptable to the saints, whether any 
expression of gratitude was sent back to the gentile churches, or 
whether the loving service tended to strengthen the bond of sym- 
pathy between the Jewish and gentile believers. It is suggestive 
of coldness that the Jerusalem church is not said to have expressed 
any sympathy for Paul during his troubles. 

On the day after his arrival in Jerusalem, when he had told James 
and the elders about his work among the gentiles, it became manifest 
that he was regarded with suspicion by the majority of believers. 
They had heard that he was in the habit of teaching the foreign Jews 
to forsake Moses, and it is plain that they regarded this report as 
true. For James and the elders at once proposed that he should 
set himself right with the church by the public performance of a 
levitical ceremony. This step would have been unnecessary had 
not the report concerning Paul been widely accepted. The manner 
in which the proposition was made to Paul suggests that the elders 
themselves did not credit the report and expected that Paul would 
disavow it. The ceremony w T hich they wished him to perform was 
that he should purify himself with four men who were under a vow, 



1 84 



CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 



and that he should be at charges for their release. Paul consented 
to their wish, and on the following day began a week's participation 
with the four men in the ceremony made necessary by their vow. 



ANTONIA 



, ^^!fP^(i^»-''»f>'^ii^n!^^^m^^^x^^^V'V n C«'^ 





COURT OF THE GENTILES. 



e»TOt__avjrHf...«icHi„ 



** 



8PH6L CATB 



wywyT'"^ 




PLAN OF HEROD'S TEMPLE 

[From Edersheim, The Temple at the Time of Christ] 



It is important to keep clearly in view the aim of Paul in this ceremonial act, 
which was simply to declare the report untrue that he had taught the Jews to forsake 
the law of Moses. He had not done this thing. He had sought to lead Jews 
to faith in Jesus, and he had taught that salvation was by grace, not by works 
of the law; but he had not gone about denouncing Moses, or teaching that Jews 
ought not to regard Jewish rites. He himself had observed a Jewish rite in 
circumcizing Timothy, and again in shaving his head in Ceuchreae because of a 
vow; but he had not observed these rites as in any sense necessary to salvation. 



Paul's last visit to Jerusalem 



185 



His act in Jerusalem was not an admission that he considered the observance 
of the Mosaic law necessary even for a Jew. It was at most an admission that 
the observance of these rites might be a means of grace. 

It appears, then, that Paul could take part in this ceremony in Jerusalem 
with a good conscience. It was in accordance with his principle "to become all 
things to all men." It is obvious, however, that his act might easily be misunder- 
stood. It was misunderstood by the elders themselves if they regarded it as a 
proof that Paul continued to be an observer of all the requirements of the law. 
It was misunderstood by believing Jews in general if they thought, as was per- 
fectly natural for them to do, that Paul, in keeping this ordinance, thereby con- 







wmm 


■&< }< '*• ■,' : .'vV 




4 X >. 



A TABLET FROM HEROD'S TEMPLE 
Forbidding Gentiles to go beyond the Court of the Gentiles on pain of death 



fessed that he held the common Jewish view of its importance. But of course 
the fact that his deed was liable to be misunderstood was not a sufficient reason 
why he should refuse to perform it. 

§127. Paul's Arrest in Jerusalem. — What effect Paul's conces- 
sion had on the Jewish believers we are not told. The time appointed 
for the purification had not passed before certain unbelieving Jews 
from Asia, perhaps old enemies of Paul from Ephesus, saw him in 
the temple, and raised a tumult against him. The charges against 
him were, first, that he taught men everywhere to disregard the law, 
and second, that he had defiled the temple. The former charge is 
not essentially different from the report that was in general circula- 



1 86 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

tion in Jerusalem, and which we considered in the last paragraph. 
The second charge had, according to Luke, no other foundation than 
the fact that Trophimus the Ephesian had been seen in the city in 
company with Paul. There may have been other grounds than this, 
but it is absurd to suppose that Paul took an uncircumcized man 
into the temple. He knew the law that a gentile who should go 
beyond a certain barrier 1 should be put to death (see Jewish War, 5. 
5. 2; 6. 2. 4), and it would have been both sinful and foolhardy for 
him to transgress this law. There is not the slightest evidence 
that he did. 

But the Jewish attachment to the temple was fanatical, and the 
multitude did not ask for evidence in support of the charges against 
Paul. They at once dragged him out into the court of the gentiles, 
and there sought to kill him. But he was saved by the prompt action 
of the Roman captain, 2 Claudius Lysias, who was in command of 
the temple guard stationed in the tower of Antonia at the northwest 
corner of the temple (Antiq., 15. 11. 4; Jewish War, 5. 5. 8). This 
guard is spoken of as a " cohort," which was the tenth of a legion and 
so numbered from five to six hundred men. The intervention of 
Lysias was not out of sympathy for Paul, but only because he feared 
a tumult. He thought that Paul might be that Egyptian who had 
headed a revolt against the Roman rule, and who, when his followers 
had been cut down or scattered by Felix, had escaped (Antiq., 26, 
8. 6). Lysias commanded that Paul should be bound with two 
chains, and be brought into the castle. 

§ 128. The Address from the Castle Stairs. — When Paul, sur- 
rounded by soldiers and separated somewhat from his foes, was being 
carried up the stairs of Antonia, he asked and secured from the cap- 
tain permission to speak to the people. He beckoned with his hand, 
on which there was now a chain, and the excited crowd before him 
became quiet. Then he set out to explain and defend his course 
as a preacher of Jesus the Messiah. He told of his early Pharisaic 

1 One of the marble tablets bearing this notice to the gentiles has been discovered, 
and facsimiles may be seen in the museums, e. g., in the Haskell Oriental Museum in 
Chicago. A cut of it is shown on p. 185. 

2 While Judea was under Roman procurators, Roman troops were stationed in 
Jerusalem to maintain the authority of Caesar. Other troops were located in Caesarea, 
the official residence of the procurator. 



paul's last visit to Jerusalem 187 

training and his hostility toward the disciples of Jesus, then of his 
experience on the way to Damascus and of the Lord's commission 
to him to go to the gentiles. At this point, as he spoke of his mission 
to the gentile world, his audience interrupted him. They cried out 
that he was not fit to live — a Jew who claimed that the Messiah had 
come and had sent him to set up the messianic kingdom among the 
gentiles! Tins thought was intolerable to them. 

When the tumult broke out afresh, the captain commanded that 
Paul be taken into the castle and scourged. He hoped in this way 
to ascertain the prisoner's offense. Evidently he had not understood 
Paul's address, which was in Aramaic, for if he had known what 
Paul had said he would have seen that the cause of the tumult was 
purely religious. By the declaration of his Roman citizenship Paul 
escaped the scourging, and also secured a certain power over the 
captain, who had exceeded his authority in commanding Paul to be 
scourged and was now " afraid." Thus matters stood at the close 
of the day, and Paul was kept a prisoner in the fortress. 

Our report of the address from the castle stairs may be attributed 
directly to the author of the " we-passages," that is, to Luke. The 
numerous graphic details in the setting of the address favor the view 
that the narrative was by an eye-witness. And the impression of 
Paul which these details give us is in harmony with what we know 
of his character and career. For they present a man of marvelous 
self-possession, quickness of thought, and power of adaptation; a 
man so generous that he could address his would-be murderers with- 
out an allusion to their attempt on his life, and so self-forgetful that 
his own peril did not seem to come into his mind when there was an 
opportunity to work for his Lord. 

§ 129. Paul before the Sanhedrin.— The next day after the attempt 
on Paul's life, the captain brought him before the Sanhedrin, hoping 
to find out in this way why he was accused. But in this hope he was 
disappointed. There was no examination of Paul; even the form 
of a trial was not reached. The Pharisees and Sadducees were 
stirred up against each other, and the dissension became so violent 
that the captain, fearing lest Paul should be torn in pieces, had him 
brought back into the castle. 



1 88 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

The events of this meeting of the Sanhedrin are not free from difficulty. 
Paul had apparently begun his defense, and having made the statement that 
he had acted conscientiously in all that he had done, the high priest, 1 regarding 
this remark as worthy of censure, commanded those by Paul to smite him on the 
mouth. Paul, stung by the injustice of the priest, replied to this command with 
words fitted to make the trouble greater rather than to diminish it. He called 
Ananias a whited wall, accused him of acting against the law, and threatened 
him with the judgment of God. When Paul was called to account for this dis- 
respectful speech to the high priest, he pleaded ignorance. He said he did not 
know that the one who had addressed him was the high priest. This implies 
that he would not have spoken as he had, if he had known with whom he was dealing. 
It is not an admission that his words were in themselves unjustifiable, but only 
that the man who had ordered him to be punished was shielded by his office. 
No explanation of Paul's ignorance regarding the speaker is satisfactory. It 
has been attributed to imperfect eyesight, or the language has been regarded 
as ironical, or the difficulty has been attributed to a misunderstanding on the part 
of the author of Acts. 

The second event of the meeting is not less difficult of explanation than the 
first. We are told that when Paul perceived (we are not told how) that one part 
were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out that he was a Pharisee and 
was on trial because of his belief in the resurrection. It sounds strange at first 
to hear the Christian Paul saying: "I am a Pharisee;" but the strangeness dis- 
appears very largely when we remember the situation: it was said in relation to 
the Sadducees and their faith. On the doctrine of the resurrection, which Paul 
said had led to his trial, he classed himself with the Pharisees. It is plain that 
he could not have done otherwise. But how could he say that he was on trial 
because of his belief in the resurrection of the dead ? He had been seized in the 
temple as one who sought to destroy the Jewish religion, and who had defiled the 
temple. His attitude toward the resurrection had been in no wise the cause of 
his arrest. What then did he mean ? It is possible, as Knowling says in view 
of vs. 9 ( see The Expositor's Greek Testament, "Commentary on Acts") that 
Paul had narrated his experience on the way to Damascus. If this was the case, 
then the difficulty in explaining Paul's word about the resurrection may be due, 
in whole or in part, to Luke's condensation of what was said. Vs. n has the 
same suggestion to make, for this speaks of some testimony which Paul had 
borne to Jesus; but no such testimony is found in Luke's report. Perhaps, 
then, a fuller record of what was said might clear up the difficulty of Paul's word. 
As it stands, it is not intelligible. 

§ 130. Paul's Removal to Caesarea. — Twice Paul had been saved 
by Claudius Lysias, and now a third deliverance followed close upon 

1 Ananias was made high priest by Herod, king of Chalcis, between 47 and 59 a. d. 
He was wealthy and covetous. See Schurer, The Jewish People, Div. 2, Vol. I, 
p. 200. 



paul's last visit to Jerusalem 189 

these. On the day after the meeting of the Sanhedrin, more than 
forty Jews formed a plot to assassinate Paul. This plot may well 
have originated with those Jews from Asia whose attempt to kill 
Paul in the temple had been baffled by the Roman soldiers. The 
plan of the conspirators was to have Paul brought again before the 
Sanhedrin, and as he was being conducted to the place of meeting 
they were going to fall upon him and kill him. Apparently they 
anticipated that he would be sent with a very small escort. 

This plot was frustrated through a nephew of Paul, who, having 
heard of it, went to Antonia and reported it to him, and then, at 
his request, reported it also to the chief captain. He at once 
00k steps to have Paul removed to Caesarea, the residence of the 
procurator. This course was more than the immediate danger 
called for. The cohort in Antonia could doubtless protect Paul from 
the conspirators. But the captain knew that the prisoner would be 
safer in Caesarea than in Jerusalem, and he may easily have seen that 
as long as he remained in Jerusalem, there would be a liability of 
fanatical outbreaks on his account. Therefore he wisely decided 
to send him at once to Felix. 

An escort of four hundred foot-soldiers and seventy mounted 
men was made ready, and at the third hour of the night, when the 
streets would be free, they set out with their prisoner. There was no 
time for him to see his friends and to say farewell. It is not improb- 
able that Luke, or some other one of Paul's companions, was allowed 
to go with him, as was the case later when he set out for Rome. The 
entire escort went as far as Antipatris, forty-two miles from Jeru- 
salem, which they probably reached the next afternoon, and for the 
remaining twenty-six miles to Caesarea Paul was guarded only by 
the horsemen. The letter which was sent with the prisoner declared 
that he had done nothing worthy of death or of bonds, and that the 
accusers had been charged to present their case against him before 
the governor in Caesarea. 

§ 131. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) When Paul was 
about to start from Corinth for Jerusalem how did he change his 
route and why ? (2) For what purpose did he go to Jerusalem, and 
who went with him ? (3) How long had he been engaged in collect- 
ing money for the poor in Jerusalem ? What churches had con- 



I90 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

tributed ? What motive moved Paul in this work ? (4) Describe 
the journey from Corinth to Jerusalem, giving the route and the 
main incidents of the journey. (5) How was the offering of the 
gentiles received at Jerusalem? (6) What had been reported in 
Jerusalem concerning Paul ? (7) How did the elders propose that 
Paul should prove the falsity of this report? (8) Was there any 
truth in the report ? (9) Was it consistent with Paul's life and 
teaching to participate in the ceremony ? (10) How was his act liable 
to be misunderstood? (11) What motives influenced Paul to take 
part in this ceremony ? Can you draw from his act a general prin- 
ciple applicable to many cases ? 

(12) What Jews made an assault on Paul in the temple? (13) 
What were their charges against him? (14) What was the founda- 
tion for the second charge? Why was.it absurd? (15) How was 
Paul saved from the mob ? (16) What was Antonia and where did 
it stand? (17) Who was in charge of it, and how many soldiers 
were under him? (18) Who did the captain think that Paul was, 
and why ? 

(19) What is the course of thought in Paul's address from the 
castle stairs ? (20) At what point was he interrupted, and why ? 
(21) For what purpose did the captain command that Paul be 
scourged? (22) How was he saved from this? (23) Why may we 
attribute our report of this address to Luke ? (24) When and why did 
the captain bring Paul before the Sanhedrin ? (25) What led to the 
interruption of Paul's defense ? (26) What did Paul mean by saying 
that he was a Pharisee ? (27) How may his statement that he was 
on trial because of his belief in the resurrection be explained? 

(28) Who plotted against Paul's life, and how did they hope to 
accomplish their desire ? (29) How was the plot frustrated ? (30) 
Why did the captain send Paul to Caesarea ? (31) Describe the 
escort and the journey. 

§ 132. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Lit- 
erature. 

1. Write a chapter on Paul's last visit to Jerusalem. It may 
have the following outline: The step which Paul took to conciliate 
the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem; the cause and manner of his 



Paul's last visit to Jerusalem 191 

arrest; his speech from the castle stairs; his appearance before the 
Sanhedrin; the plot against his life; his removal to Caesarea. 

2. On Antonia see : 

Josephus, Jewish War, 6. r, 2; Schiirer, The Jewish People, etc., Div. 1, 
Vol. II, pp. 55, 56. 

3. About how long, according to Acts, was Paul in Jerusalem 
on his last visit ? 



CHAPTER XX 

PAUL'S IMPRISONMENT IN GESAREA 
SYNOPSIS 

§ 133. Paul and his accusers before Felix. Acts 24:1-23 

§ 134. Paul before Felix and Drusilla. Acts 24:24-27 

§135. Paul and his accusers before Festus ; the appeal to Caesar. Acts25:i-i2 

§ 136. Paul before Agrippa and Bernice. Acts 25:13 — 26:32 

§ 133. Paul and His Accusers before Felix. — The city to which 
Paul was brought a prisoner from Jerusalem was one of the chief 
works of Herod the Great, built on the site of an earlier town called 
Strato's Tower, and dedicated in Herod's twenty-eighth year. It 
had many palaces and public edifices of white stone, a temple on the 
water-front that was visible far out at sea, a large theater and amphi- 
theater, sewers that were flushed by the tides, and a safe and com- 
modious harbor which was beautifully adorned (Antiq., 15. 9. 6; 
16. 5. 1; Jewish War, 3. 9. 1). It was a city of considerable size. 
Josephus says that at the outbreak of the Jewish War in 66 a. d., 
the heathen population rose up aganist the Jews and put 20,000 to 
death. If this statement is even approximately correct, and if, as 
Josephus says, the greatest part of the inhabitants were Greeks, 
then the total population of Caesarea must have been many thou- 
sands. 

That there were Christian disciples in Caesarea we have already 
seen. It was the home of Philip, who had established the church in 
Samaria, and the scene of Peter's triumph in the house of Cornelius. 
It was a place that Paul had visited at least three times since his con- 
version, the last occasion having been some two weeks before he was 
sent thither by Claudius Lysias. The word which Agabus had 
spoken to Paul in this very city, saying that the Jews would deliver 
him over to the gentiles, had been fulfilled with startling suddenness. 

The procurator to whom Paul was delivered from Jerusalem 
was Antonius Felix, who, according to Josephus, was appointed by 
the emperor Claudius in the year 52 a. d. (Antiq., 16. 5. 1). He 
had a Jewish wife by the name of Drusilla, daughter of Agrippa I, 

192 



194 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

whom he had alienated from Azizus, her husband, by means of a 
magician. Tacitus says that Felix had been a slave, and that when 
set free he retained a slave's temper. According to Josephus, he was 
a man of lust and blood, whose only remedy for the disorders of 
Judea was a campaign of force {Jewish War, 2. 13. 2. 7). 

Within a week after Paul's arrival in Caesarea, his accusers ap- 
peared before Felix, the high priest himself coming down and bring- 
ing a trained advocate, who, to judge from his name, Tertullus, was 
a Roman. The Jews, through Tertullus, brought three charges 
against Paul, viz., first, that he had created insurrections among the 
Jews everywhere; second, that he was a leader of the sect of Naza- 
renes, and third, that he had tried to profane the temple. To these 
charges Paul replied, when Felix had beckoned to him, and his reply 
contains four points. He declared that the charge of being an in- 
surrectionist could not be proven, that belonging to the sect of the 
Nazarenes was not contrary to the law, that he had done nothing 
disorderly in the temple, and that the council at Jerusalem had 
found nothing against him. Felix having heard both sides refused 
to pronounce on the case at once, and said that he would wait until 
Lysias should come down. This may have been a device for turning 
the Jews away. At any rate they seem to have had no hope of secur- 
ing a judgment against Paul from Felix, and apparently made no 
further attempt to do so. In the meantime their purpose was in a 
measure accomplished, for their enemy, so long as he was kept a 
prisoner in Csesarea, could not carry on his work of destroying the 
law of Moses. 

§ 134. Paul before Felix and Drusilla. — The two years spent in 
Csesarea are an almost complete blank in the history of Paul. He had 
a good deal of liberty, was allowed to meet his friends and receive 
their ministrations, and doubtless was allowed exercise out of doors 
with a guard to attend him. We must suppose that he was active 
in the interest of the gospel, so far as he had opportunity, for this 
was his passion ; but in what form of activity he may have been en- 
gaged we do not know. 1 

In the early part of Paul's stay in Caesarea he was summoned to 

1 Some scholars hold that the letters to Philemon, the Colossians, and Ephesians 
were written from Caesarea, but without sufficient ground. 



paul's imprisonment in clesarea 195 

speak of the faith in Christ before Felix and his Jewish wife. The 
procurator was impressed, as Herod Antipas had been impressed by 
the preaching of the Baptist, but the impression was not abiding. 
What Paul had said about righteousness and judgment did not deter 
Felix from seeking bribes from his prisoner. It would be interest- 
ing to know what gave Felix the impression that Paul could procure 
money to buy his liberty. We have no reason to think that Paul 
ever dressed as did the wealthy. On the contrary, as he was fre- 
quently dependent on the labor of his own hands for support, we 
are doubtless to think of his dress as extremely plain. It is possible 
that Felix was led to think of a large bribe by the number and means 
of those friends of Paul who visited him in his confinement. 

§ T 35- P au * anc * His Accusers before Festus; the Appeal to Cae- 
sar. — Porcius Festus was appointed procurator by Nero in the place 
of Felix, whom the emperor recalled, very likely because his adminis- 
tration was not successful. The appointment of Festus is put with 
most probability between 58 and 60 a. d. (Schiirer, The Jewish 
People, etc., Div. 1, Vol. II, pp. 182-84, note). We know almost 
nothing of the character of the man except what can be gathered 
from Acts. Josephus indicates that he was a good deal better than 
his successor, Albinus (Jewish War, 2. 14. 1), but this does not give 
us any very definite knowledge of him. 

Festus visited Jerusalem almost immediately after landing at 
Caesarea, and the chief priests and principal men, having laid Paul's 
case before him, asked that he might be sent back to Jerusalem for 
trial. This shows that they had by no means forgotten Paul, but 
were simply waiting for a favorable opportunity to destroy him. 
According to Luke, they did not now expect a judgment against 
Paul, but hoped to kill him on his way to Jerusalem. The reply 
of Festus to this request of the Jews was creditable to him. He 
had not yet heard Paul's side of the case, and it would therefore have 
been manifestly unfair to grant the request of his accusers. 

Moreover, Caesarea was his official residence, and Paul was there. 
It is also likely that Festus knew something of the inflammable char- 
acter of the Jerusalem populace, and felt that it would be easier to 
dispatch the case at a distance from the storm center. Therefore 
he refused the request of the principal men, and said that they should 



I96 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

come down to Caesarea, and there make known their case against 
the prisoner. 

From Luke's account of what Festus said to Agrippa (Acts 
25:14-16), it appears that the Jews had asked either that Festus 
should give sentence against Paul on their testimony alone, or that 
his case should be transferred from the Roman to the Jewish bar 
for judgment. If this latter disposition of the matter was what they 
sought, it would agree very well with the plot to kill Paul on the way 
to Jerusalem. 

As soon as Festus returned to Caesarea, he gave a hearing to Paul 
and his accusers. The Jews presented many and grievous accusa- 
tions, the nature of which may be inferred from Paul's reply. He 
declared that he had not sinned against the law of the Jews, the 
temple, or Caesar, and therefore we judge that their charges had 
concerned these points. They were thus partly political and partly 
religious. The attitude of Festus toward Paul after he and his 
accusers had spoken was not altogether honorable. He asked Paul 
whether he would go up to Jerusalem and there be judged before him. 
This is the very thing which he had once refused to allow, and now, 
at any rate, there was nothing to justify such a step. It was plainly 
a proposition which Festus made in order to gain favor with the 
Jews. He himself, at a later day, told Agrippa that he had found 
nothing worthy of death in Paul (Acts 25:25), and indeed that he 
knew of no single valid charge against him to send to the emperor. 
It was his duty, then, to release Paul rather than to ask him if he would 
go to Jerusalem. Paul's reply to this question of Festus was the only 
one which he could give. He knew well that to go to Jerusalem 
meant death. If he did not wish to be put to death in Jerusalem on 
utterly false charges, the only thing now left him was to appeal to 
Caesar. This, accordingly, he did, and when Festus had conferred 
with his councilors, perhaps to ascertain whether there was any legal 
hindrance in the way of granting Paul's appeal, he formally trans- 
ferred the case to the supreme court in Rome. 

§ 136. Paul before Agrippa and Bernice. — Agrippa II, son of 
Agrippa I who died in 44 a. d. in Caesarea, was ruler over the small 
kingdom in Lebanon, which had been his uncle's, also over the re- 
gion which had belonged to Herod Philip and over parts of that of 
Herod Antipas. His capital was Caesarea Philippi. Like his father 



PAILS IMPRISONMENT IN C.ESAREA I97 

he was devoted to Rome, where he was probably educated and spent 
most of his life prior to about 53 a. D. (Schiirer, The Jewish People, 
etc., Div. I, Vol. II, p. 191). He took the side of Rome in the Jewish 
War, and remained in power until his death in 100 a. d. He left 
no heir. He had little of the ability which had characterized his 
grandfather, and rendered no worthy service to his people during Irs 
reign of a half-century. Bernice with whom he lived in an unlawful 
relation was his sister. Drusilla, wife of Felix, was another sister. 

Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea to welcome the Roman pro- 
curator, and while there, having become acquainted with Paul's 
case from Festus, Agrippa desired to hear him. This wish was of 
course granted, especially as Festus hoped that from a hearing before 
Agrippa he might learn something definite about Paul's case which 
he could send to the emperor. He evidently thought that Agrippa 
would have an understanding of the peculiarities of the case such 
as he, a Roman, could not hope to have. That Agrippa was well 
informed regarding Jewish customs and questions of the law, Paul 
acknowledged in the opening of his speech. 

In his defense before Agrippa Paul went over the ground with 
wlv'ch we have already become familiar. He spoke of his early life 
and education, his career as a persecutor of the Christians, his con- 
version on the way to Damascus, and his mission to the gentiles. 
His statement of the reason why the Jews persecuted him is notable. 
He said that he was accused by the Jews concerning the hope of the 
messianic promise. As no such charge had ever been brought against 
Paul, we may perhaps regard this statement as giving his analysis 
of the real underlying reason of the Jewish hostility. The promise 
made to the fathers was, for him, fulfilled in Jesus, as proven by his 
resurrection; and he, in obedience to the heavenly vision, had 
preached this Jesus as the Messiah. It was this fact — Paul's lan- 
guage seems to imply — which was the real cause of the hatred of his 
countrymen. The actual charges against him were merely super- 
ficial; this was the root of the trouble. 

The apology before Agrippa does not appear to have furnished 
Festus any more definite information regarding his prisoner. Agrip- 
pa pronounced Paul innocent. Just what impression Paul's preach- 
ing of Jesus made upon him, it is difficult to say. If his reply to 
Paul's question (Acts 26:28) was not ironical, it was at any rate no 



I98 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

more than half-hearted. As to Festus, he does not appear to have 
been touched at all by the apostle's message. He regarded Paul 
as a fanatic whose condition verged on insanity. 

§ 137. Questions and Suggestions for Study.— (1) Describe 
Caesarea — its location, notable features and population. (2) What 
Christians lived there? On what occasions had Paul been in the 
city ? (3) When and by whom was Felix made procurator of Judea ? 
(4) What was the character of the man and his administration ? (5) 
What charges did Tertullus make against Paul? (6) Name the 
four points of Paul's reply. (7) What action did Felix take ? (8) 
What was the nature of Paul's imprisonment in Caesarea? (9) 
How deeply did his preaching affect Felix? (10) When and by 
whom was Festus appointed to the procuratorship of Judea? (11) 
What favor did the chief priests seek from him ? (12) How did they 
hope to destroy Paul ? (13) What answer did Festus give, and why ? 
(14) Describe the hearing before Festus. (15) Show wherein the 
proposition which Festus made to Paul was dishonorable. (16) 
What was the only course left open to Paul ? 

Give the main facts regarding Agrippa II. (18) Why had he 
and Bernice come to Caesarea? (19) Why was Felix glad to have 
Agrippa hear Paul? (20) How may the statement of Paul that he 
was accused concerning the hope of the Messiah be explained ? 
(21) What effect did Paul's defence have on Agrippa and Festus? 

§ 138. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Lit- 
erature. 

1. Write a chapter on Paul's imprisonment in Caesarea, having 
perhaps the following outline: the city; the nature of Paul's con- 
finement; the Roman procurators Felix and Festus; Agrippa II; 
the charges against Paul; the apostle's defense; how he came to 
appeal to Caesar. 

2. On Caesarea read : 

Josephus, Antiq., 15. 9. 6; 16. 5. 1; Jewish War, 3. 9. 1; Schiirer, The Jew- 
ish People, etc., Div. 2, Vol. I, p. 84. 

3. On the date of the appointment of Festus see: 

Schiirer, Div. 1, Vol. II, pp. 182-84, note; Turner, in Hastings' Bible Dic- 
tionary, article " Chronology of New Testament," II, 8. 

4. The Herods of the book of Acts; their relation to one another 
and to the Herods of the Gospels. 



CHAPTER XXI 

THE VOYAGE TO ROME ' 

§139. From Caesarea to Fair Havens. Acts 27:1-8 

§ 140. The storm and the shipwreck. Acts 27:9-44 

§ 141. On the island of Melita. Acts 28:1-10 

§142. From Melita to Rome. Acts 28:11-15 

§ 139. From Caesarea to Fair Havens. — In the latter part of 
August, 2 or early in September, of the year 58, 59, or 60 A. D., Paul 
with other prisoners embarked at Caesarea to go to Rome. But 
the ship in which they embarked was bound for places on the coast 
of Asia. Probably there was no ship then at Caesarea which was to 
sail directly for Rome, and as the season was advanced it was thought 
best to take this north-bound ship in hope of making a transfer at 
one of the large Asiatic ports. 

The escort that conducted Paul to Rome consisted of a centu- 
rion by the name of Julius, and a considerable, though indefinite 
number of soldiers (Acts 27 131, 42). Julius appears in our narrative 
as a high-minded man, worthy to rank with the other centurions 
known to us from the New Testament (Matt. 8:5; Mark 15:39; 
Acts 10:1). Throughout the journey he treated Paul with kindness 
and consideration. He gave heed to the pilot and the owner of the 
ship in the matter of setting sail from Fair Havens, rather than to 
Paul, but this was quite natural, and argued no lack of kindness 
for his prisoner. He acted on Paul's advice when the sailors sought 
to escape from the ship, and ordered the soldiers to cut the ropes and 
let the boat fall into the sea. It was his regard for Paul that led 
him to oppose the counsel of the soldiers, when they proposed to 
kill the prisoners, lest they should escape as the ship went to pieces. 

1 Considerable portions of this chapter are taken from my Student's Life 0} 
Paul, with the kind permission of the Macmillan Company. 

2 An approximate estimate based on Acts 27: 9, taken together with the distance 
which they had then sailed, and allowing for the stops in Sidon and Myra. See 
Turner in Hastings' Bible Dictionary, article "Chronology." 

199 



200 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

As Paul was fortunate in being delivered to the care of Julius, 
so also was he fortunate in being allowed to have with him two old 
and tried friends, Luke the physician, and Aristarchus a Mace- 
donian of Thessalonica, both of whom had accompanied him on 
his journey from Greece to Jerusalem two years before. These 
men not only made the voyage with him, but appear to have remained 
with him through his Roman imprisonment (Col. 4:10, 14; Phil- 
emon 24). 

The second day from Caesarea the ship touched at Sidon, and 
Paul was allowed to go ashore, and to be refreshed by the attention 
of Christian brethren. This little item is of interest because it 
gives us our first knowledge of a Christian community at Sidon, 
and shows that they knew and loved Paul. It is not at all improbable 
that they were his own converts, and that he had visited them some 
ten years before when he with Barnabas went up from Antioch to 
Jerusalem to confer with the elder brethren regarding the question 
which was troubling the church at Antioch (Acts 15:3). 

The next port at which Paul's ship called was that of Myra in 
Lycia, about five hundred miles from Caesarea. Here the prisoners 
were transferred to a ship of Alexandria which was bound for Rome. 
It had a cargo of wheat, and carried in all 276 passengers. The 
westward journey from Myra to Fair Havens on the south of Crete, 
a distance of about three hundred miles, was slow and difficult on 
account of strong head winds, and when they reached the Cretan 
harbor, they waited some days (Acts 27:9). 

§ 140. The Storm and the Shipwreck. — While the ship lay in the 
harbor of Fair Havens, there was apparently much discussion as to 
the best course to be taken. Paul was strongly opposed to continuing 
the journey, feeling sure that in this case both ship and passengers 
would be lost. His counsel was probably based on his long expe- 
rience of the Mediterranean (2 Cor. 11:25), and was wise, as the 
result showed, though in the matter of the loss of life his opinion 
was changed some days later (vs. 22). The centurion, who might 
have taken his prisoners ashore and wintered in Crete, was per- 
suaded by the pilot and the captain, or perhaps the owner of the 
ship, to continue his voyage. It was not now expected that they 
could get to Rome before winter, nor were they disposed to attempt 



THE VOYAGE TO ROME 201 

it. They wished only to reach Phoenix, some forty miles farther 
west, which had a better harbor in which to winter. Therefore, 
when the wind blew softly, they set sail, and kept as close to the shore 
as possible. 

Soon after leaving Fair Havens a hurricane from the northeast 
struck the ship, and for fourteen days it was driven, partly unrigged 
and helpless. As no sun or stars appeared — the only compass 
which they had in those days — the sailors could not calculate where 
they were, or whither they were being borne, though they feared 
that they should run aground on the Syrtis off the coast of Africa 
west of Cyrene. As it proved, they were driven far to the north 
of this dangerous region. 

The one bright incident during the hopeless days of the tempest 
was Paul's vision and words of cheer. As he had been assured 
two years before that he must bear witness in Rome (Acts 23:11), 
so now again an angel appeared to him in a dream and assured 
him that he should not only stand before Caesar, but also that all 
other persons on the ship should be delivered from the storm. Paul 
added, as though on his own authority and not as a part of the 
angel 's message, that they must be cast on a certain island. They 
were not destined to make a harbor, but at the same time they were 
all to escape from the sea. What effect these words of cheer had 
on the passengers we are not told. 

In the last night on shipboard, after they had anchored, an inci- 
dent occurred which showed that Paul, though a prisoner, was an 
important member of the ship's company. About midnight some 
of the sailors lowered the boat under pretence of laying out anchors 
from the foreship, but with the intention of pushing off and aban- 
doning the vessel. They were probably convinced that land was 
near, and that it was safer to approach it in the small boat than in 
the ship. Paul saw the aim of the sailors, and immediately made it 
known to the centurion, who, without waiting to consult the captain, 
ordered the soldiers to cut the boat's ropes and let it fall into the 
sea. It is significant that Paul, though he had been assured in his 
dream that he should reach Rome, was on watch at midnight, and 
was quick to see what concerned the common welfare. Later in the 
same night we see Paul in another characteristic scene. He was 



202 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

confident that they were to reach land in safety, and besought all the 
passengers to take food. He himself began to eat, after he had 
given thanks to God, and his spirit communicated itself to the rest. 
They also ate, and were of good cheer. 

In the morning, as they were seeking to bring the ship into a bay, 
it grounded, and soon began to be broken by the violence of the 
waves. The soldiers were in favor of killing the prisoners lest they 
should escape, for if the prisoners escaped, they themselves would 
be held responsible. But Julius chose to take the risk of the pris- 
oners ' escaping, for he wished to save Paul. His confidence appears 
to have been rewarded, for though all the passengers were separated, 
and each got to land as best he could, there is no record that anyone 
attempted to escape. 

§ 141. On the Island of Melita. — The island of Melita, on which 
the shipwrecked people found themselves, has been almost univer- 
sally identified with Malta,, an island seventeen and one-fourth 
miles long and nine and one-fourth miles wide, lying south of Sicily 
about fifty-eight miles; and St. Paul's Bay on the north side of the 
island has been shown to answer in a remarkable way to the require- 
ments of the narrative as the very place of the wreck. The direction 
of the wind which struck the ship off the ccast of Crete points toward 
Malta. The fact that an Alexandrian ship wintered in one of the 
harbors of the island points to Malta, which had excellent harbors, 
rather than to Meleda, the only other island whose name allows it to be 
considered as the scene of the wreck of Paul's ship. This Meleda 
is far up on the coast of Illyria, and thus was not a likely place for a 
ship to winter that was bound from Alexandria to Puteoli and other 
ports on the west coast of Italy. 

Paul and his fellow-passengers were obliged to stay in Malta 
about three months, until the opening of navigation. This may have 
been in the early part of February. The inhabitants of the island, 
descendants of a Phoenician colony or of a kindred people from 
Carthage, received the ship's passengers with kindness. The 
Roman magistrate, the highest officer on the island, entertained 
them for three days; and when they embarked in the spring, the 
people of the island provided such things as they needed for the 
journey. This kindness both of Publius, the magistrate, and the 



THE VOYAGE TO ROME 2O3 

inhabitants in general Paul repaid richly, for he healed the father 
of Publius of a severe illness, and others who were sick with various 
diseases. 

The incident of the viper contains various details that are char- 
acteristic of Paul. It was like him to be active for the comfort of 
others, as he was in gathering sticks for the fire. It was also like 
him not to make any ado over the bite of the viper, but simply to 
shake the reptile off* into the fire. He had been in scores of perils 
equally great, and the Lord had delivered him. 

The judgment of the barbarians when they first saw the viper 
on Paul was as natural as was their later judgment when they saw 
that he experienced no ill result. Paul was a prisoner, and when 
the people saw a viper on his hand, it was easy to think that this 
was a righteous punishment for some crime. But when he shook it 
off, and took no harm, they reasoned that he was a god, as did the 
Lyca- nians when Paul healed the cripple. 

§ 142. From Melita to Rome. — The ship which took the prisoners 
from Malta was from Alexandria, and had wintered in one of the 
harbors of the island. On its way to Puteoli it touched at Syracuse 
in Sicily, some ninety miles from Malta, and again at Rhegium in 
Italy, which was sixty- three miles farther. From there they came 
on the second day to Puteoli, two hmndred and twelve miles from 
Rhegium. 

In Puteoli, the principal port of southern Italy, where one of the 
first temples for the worship of Augustus was erected, Paul and his 
companions were refreshed by the presence of Christian brethren, 
at whose solicitation they remained a week. There had long been 
a Jewish colony in Puteoli (see Schiirer, The Jewish People, etc., 
Div. 2, Vol. II, p. 241), perhaps because it was a flourishing seaport, 
but we know nothing of the founding of the church there. It is 
possible that the brethren had heard of Paul and his work, and 
therefore wished him to tarry a few days with them, or it may be 
that their invitation rested simply on the fact that he was a Christian 
and a prisoner. 

From Puteoli Paul went the remaining 129 miles by land. It 
seems that word of his coming must have been sent to friends in 
Rome on his arrival at Puteoli, for when he at length reached the 



204 



CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 



Market of Appius, forty miles from Rome, he was met by a company 
of Christian disciples from the Metropolis, and again, ten miles 
farther on, was welcomed by others at the Three Taverns. This 




THE ARCH OF DRUSUS: ENTRANCE TO ROME FROM THE APPIAN WAY 

was a happy omen for his arrival in Rome, and it is no wonder that 
Paul thanked God and took courage. In Jerusalem, when he had 
been seized and imprisoned, no effort had been made by the Jeru- 



THE VOYAGE TO ROME 205 

salem church to deliver him or to comfort him so far as our narrative 
informs us; but now from these brethren, chiefly gentiles, to whom 
he had written two years before, he receives tokens of the liveliest 
sympathy, though he comes as a prisoner. 

£ 143. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (i) When did 
Paul's voyage to Rome begin ? (2) What was the plan of voyage as 
they left Caesarea ? (3) Describe Paul's escort both pagan and Chris- 
tian. (4) Where did the ship touch first, and what interest attaches 
to the event ? (5) Where did Paul change ships ? (6) What sort 
of ship was the new one, and how many people were on board ? 
(7) Why did the ship stop in Fair Havens ? 

(8) What was Paul 's opinion in regard to leaving Fair Havens ? 
On what was it based? (9) With what plan did they leave Fair 
Havens ? (10) Describe the experience of the next fourteen days. 
(11) What was Paul's dream? (12) What plan of the sailors did 
Paul thwart? (13) What did the soldiers counsel regarding the 
prisoners, and why ? 

(14) Describe the island of Melita. (15) How long did Paul 
remain there? (16) How were the passengers treated? (17) 
Describe the incident of the viper, and its interpretation by the 
inhabitants. (18) How did Paul get away from Malta? (19) At 
what points did his ship touch, and where did he disembark ? (20) 
Who received him in Puteoli ? (21) How did he complete his journey 
to Rome? (22) At what places was he met by Roman Christians? 

§ 144. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Lit- 
erature. 

1. Write a chapter on the voyage of Paul to Rome. Illustrate 
with a diagram showing the route from Caesarea to Rome, the places 
where Paul landed, and their distances from each other. 

2. On this journey read: 

James Smith, The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul. 

3. On Rom. 16:3-16 see: 

McGiffert, The Apostolic Age, pp. 275 ff. for a statement of the view that 
it refers to the church at Ephesus; and for the view that it is part of the original 
letter to the Romans, see Sanday and Headlam, Commentary on Romans, Intro- 
duction, pp. xlxxv ff., and Gilbert, Student's Life 0} Paul, pp. 212-15. 



CHAPTER XXII 

PAUL'S ROMAN IMPRISONMENT AND THE CLOSE OF HIS LIFE 

SYNOPSIS 

§ 145. The scene and nature of Paul's imprisonment. Acts 28:16, 23, 30 

§ 146. The conference with the Jews in Rome and other activities of the Roman 
imprisonment. Acts 28:16-28; Phil. 1:12-14; Col. 1:28, 29 

§ 147. Progress of the work at Philippi: Paul's letter to the church in that city. 

§ 148. The situation in Colossae as reflected in Paul's letter to that city. 

§149. Christianity in other cities of Asia: the letter to the Ephesians. 

§ 150. The trial and death of Paul. 

§ 145. The Scene and Nature of PauPs Imprisonment. — The 

long and eventful voyage of Paul from Caesarea to Rome is the last 
chapter of his career on which we have any fulness of information. 
After his entrance into the metropolis, though we do not wholly lose 
sight of him, we have henceforth but scant knowledge of his move- 
ments and fortunes. 

It appears from Luke that he spent about two years in a very 
mild sort of imprisonment. One soldier only was detailed to guard 
him, to whom he was apparently bound by a chain (Eph. 6:20). 
He was allowed to have his own private lodging, where he was free 
to receive his friends and to preach the gospel. The expense of this 
lodging, which can not have been trivial, was doubtless borne by 
the many friends in Rome, if not by the companions of Paul. 

If we regarded the letter to the Philippians as our only authority 
for Paul's residence in Rome, we might think that he was kept in 
the praetorian barracks (Phil. 1:13), which were on the east of the 
city, near the Viminal Gate. The language of the Philippian letter, 
however, is satisfied if, with Weizsacker, we assume that Paul's 
lodging was near to the barracks. He would thus have easily be- 
come known to the guards. It seems that this lodging was found 
and hired almost as soon as Paul arrived in Rome, for he was settled 
in it and had a conference with the Jews within three days of that 
arrival. 

206 



PAUL'S ROMAN IMPRISONMENT 



20* 



§ 146. The Conference with Jews in Rome and Other Activities 
of the Roman Imprisonment. — At the earliest possible hour Paul 
called together some of the leading members of the Jewish com- 
munity in Rome, which, confined at first to the region beyond the 
Tiber, was now found scattered through the city (Schurer, The 
Jewish People, etc., Div. 2, Vol. II, pp. 235 IT.). Paul seems to have 
asked for this conference that he 
might explain his situation, and, 
if possible, secure the sympathy 
of his Jewish brethren. The 
fact that the chief Jews came 
together at Paul's invitation 
indicates that his name was 
known among them, as we 
should naturally expect to have 
been the case. Their statement 
that they had received no letters 
from Judea concerning him, and 
that none of the brethren from 
the East had come with an 
injurious report, is limited to 
the recent events in Jerusalem, 
which had led to Paul's being 
sent as a prisoner to Rome. It 
does not imply that they had 
never heard about him at all. 

The first meeting led to a 
second at the request of the 
Jews themselves, and this 
second meeting was numerously 
attended. The purpose of the 

Jews in asking for the second conference with Paul was that they 
might hear from him concerning the new "sect." Their language 
seems to imply that they had, as yet, no first-hand knowledge regard- 
ing it. It seems strange that this should, indeed, have been the 
case, since there had been Christians in Rome for years. But 
Rome was a vast city, and the believing Jews may, for a long 




THE EMPEROR NERO 

(The Caesar to whom Paul appealed) 



208 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

time, have been quite separate from the synagogues. Moreover, 
it is possible that the Jews knew more of Christianity than they cared 
to avow; their statement may have been true, but not all the 
truth. 

At the second meeting Paul discoursed the entire day, with the 
result that some believed the things which he spoke and some dis- 
believed. In view of the warning with which Paul closed, and in 
view of his general missionary experience among the Jews, we may 
probably think of those who believed as few in number. 

Luke gives no other details of Paul's activity in Rome beyond 
what he says of these two meetings with the Jews. He only makes 
the general statement that the apostle spoke with all boldness to 
all who came to him. This statement suggests that Paul may have 
accomplished not a little, for always when he was able to speak 
freely to men concerning the Lord Jesus there were encouraging 
results ; but it gives us no certain information regarding the outcome 
of his work. 

Such information, however, is found in Paul's own letters to a 
limited extent. Thus he wrote to the Philippians that the gospel 
had been promoted in Rome by his experience (Phil. 1:12). His 
presence had encouraged others to preach the word without fear 
(Phil. 1 114). He was, indeed, a prisoner, but such was his influence 
on the soldiers that they considered him innocent of any crime. 
His bonds were regarded by them as due simply to his religious 
faith (Phil. 1:13). In his letter to the Colossians, written from 
Rome, he speaks of his activity in admonishing and teaching, and 
of the powerful inward energizing of God of which he was conscious 
(Col. 1:28, 29). This language suggests that his preaching and 
his influence in general was productive of manifest good results. 

We know the name of only one person whom Paul converted 
while in Rome, and that was Onesimus, a slave belonging to Phile- 
mon of Colossae in Asia Minor (Philem. 10). The saints of Caesar's 
household (Phil. 4:22), since they do not appear to be referred to in 
the long list of greetings in Rom. 16, which was written between two 
and three years before Paul came to Rome, may have been a part 
of the fruit of his labor. Paul was supported in his work by 
various former colleagues. Aquila and Priscilla were in Rome before 



PAUL'S ROMAN IMPRISONMENT 2O0 

him (Rom. 16:3), Luke and Aristarchus had come with him from 
Caesarea, Timothy and Mark were with him when he wrote to the 
Philippians and Colossians (Phil. 1:1; Col. 4:10). Material aid 
of some sort was received from Philippi by the hand of Epaphroditus 
(Phil. 4:10, 18), and the Ephesian Onesiphorus often refreshed 
Paul, whether by material or spiritual gifts, or both, we are not told 
(2 Tim. 1:16). But the letters of Paul from his Roman imprison- 
ment not only give us information concerning his situation in Rome, 
but also enable us to gain most significant insight into the condition 
of affairs in the cities of Macedonia and Asia in which Paul had 
previously labored, or in which Christianity had been planted as 
the indirect result of his labors. We must pause here, therefore, to 
look further into these letters. 

§ 147. Progress of the Work at Philippi. Paul's Letter to the 
Church in the City. — A little more than ten years had passed since 
Paul planted the church at Philippi, and from two to four years 
since he last visited that church. But the brethren at Philippi 
had not forgotten him. They contributed to his support while in 
Thessalonica and Corinth, and now after a considerable interval 
(Phil. 4:10), having heard that he was a prisoner in Rome, perhaps 
through Luke who seems to have been a Philippian, they sent and 
ministered to his need by Epaphroditus (Phil. 2:25-30; 4:18). 
This gift occasioned Paul's letter, and doubtless the information which 
Epaphroditus brought served in part as a basis for it. 

The church at Philippi was now organized with bishops and 
deacons (Phil. 1:1), who are addressed in the opening of the letter, 
though not by name and only after "all the saints." The members 
of the church — five are mentioned by name (2:25; 4:2, 3) — are 
recognized by Paul as coworkers in furtherance of the gospel from 
the first day until the present (1:5). The letter implies that some 
of the membership were eminent for Christian graces. Thus it is 
said that they were undaunted by persecution, and though called to 
suffer as Paul himself suffered while in Philippi and now in Rome, 
they still remained faithful (1:27-30). Epaphroditus had hazarded 
his life as the messenger of the church to Paul (2:30). Even more 
significant in this connection is 3:17, for this verse implies that there 
were some Christians in Philippi who, in Paul's judgment, were 



210 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

worthy to be marked and imitated, persons in whose lives the spirit 
of the gospel was eminently manifested. 

But at the same time, though Paul in his generous love spoke of 
the church as his joy and crown (4:1), there was clearly a decided 
lack of harmony among its members (see, e. g., 2:1-5; 4:2). 
From the single concrete illustration which is given, viz., the division 
between Euodia and Syntyche, we should hardly infer that the trouble 
was between the Jewish and the gentile element in the church, for 
these names are both Greek. But this evidence does not justify any 
positive statement on the point. The noteworthy fact is that women 
were prominent in the church, and were recognized by Paul as 
fellow- workers with him in the gospel. It is interesting to note that 
Paul, while writing about this somewhat unpleasant matter, could 
make a playful reference to the name of Synzygos, 1 the man whom 
he wished to act as a peacemaker between Euodia and Syntyche. 
Whether these women were officers in the church, and what the 
cause of difference between them was, are questions on which the 
letter throws no light. 

§ 148. The Situation in Colossae, as Reflected in Paul's Letter to 
that City. — One hundred and fifty miles east from Ephesus, on the 
road which Paul would have taken on his second missionary journey 
had he not been forbidden to preach the word in Asia, stood Colossae. 
Twenty miles to the west, on the same great road, was Laodicea. 
The church in Colossae may be called a Pauline foundation, though 
Paul was never there (Col. 2:1). It appears to have owed its origin 
to Epaphras, himself a Colossian, of whom Paul speaks as a beloved 
fellow-servant and faithful minister in Christ (Col. 1:7). He may 
also have established the church at Laodicea and at Hierapolis, the 
latter a famous city about twenty miles to the north from Laodicea 
(Col. 4:13). Epaphras was not unlikely a convert of Paul, having 
heard the gospel preached by him at Ephesus; in any case, he was 
a spiritual son of the apostle. If we suppose that the church at 
Colossae was founded during or soon after Paul's work in Ephesus, 
it was some five years old when the letter was written. 

1 This word according to its etymology means yokefellow, or perhaps better 
mediator, peacemaker (Lipsius, Drummond). In saying "true" Synzygos Paul 
plays on the etymological sense of the word. 



PAUL'S ROMAN IMPRISONMENT 211 

The letter was occasioned by a report which Epaphras had brought 
to Paul in Rome (Col. i :8). He had borne the love of the Colossians 
to the apostle, and had doubtless told of the condition of the church. 
That he was extremely solicitous for their welfare, and for the churches 
of Laodicea and Hierapolis, appears from Col. 4:12, 13. The con- 
dition of the church as a whole, though threatened by serious error, 
was still sound. They had faith in Christ and love toward all the 
saints (Col. 1:4), the gospel was bearing fruit among them and in- 
creasing (Col. 1:6). The peril of false teachers was at hand, but 
had not yet seriously invaded the church. 

Whether the church at Colossas had a formal organization does 
not clearly appear, though the message to Archippus seems to sug- 
gest it. 1 The church seems to have met in the house of Philemon 
(Philem. 2). The fundamental doctrine of the false teacher or 
teachers at Colossae was angel-worship (Col. 2:18), hence quite 
unlike the heretical teaching which we meet at Rome and Corinth. 
A necessary part of the worship of angels, that which prepared one 
for intercourse with them, was an ascetic severity to the body (Col. 
2:23). This consisted in the avoidance of certain kinds of meat 
and drink (Col. 2:16, 21), in the observance of Jewish holy days 
(Col. 2:16), and perhaps also in circumcision (Col. 2:11; 3:11). 
The angel cult was apparently observed in order to secure visions 
and revelations of truth (Col. 2:18). It was perhaps claimed that 
this cult showed "humility," inasmuch as the worshiper did not 
presume to approach the most high God, but only an angel. 

It does not appear that the teachers of this new cult brought any charges 
against Paul, though it is evident that they presented their doctrine as superior 
to his. Xor does it appear that they purposely lowered the dignity of Christ. 
Paul saw that this would be the inevitable result of the acceptance of their doc- 
trine, and for this reason he opposed it with the utmost vigor. In Christ are all 
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3); therefore there is no need 
of seeking help from angels. By the cross of Christ have the principalities and 
powers been despoiled (Col. 2: 14, 15), since their power over man lay in the bond 
which was nailed to the cross; and therefore there is no need to fear any angelic 
powers or to seek to propitiate them. 

Whence the cult of angels with accompanying asceticism came can not be 
determined. It has a Jewish color from its reference to circumcision and feasts, 
1 Salmon, New Testament Introduction, p. 383, thinks that Archippus was at 
Laodicea. 



212 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

but its doctrine of asceticism in meat and drink, and its use of the "rudiments 
of the world" 1 point rather to a gentile origin. But wherever it originated, 
whether at Alexandria, the home of the Logos speculation, or elsewhere, it was 
an early stage of that gnostic system of thought which attained its greatest in- 
fluence in the second century. 

§ 149. Christianity in Other Cities in Asia; the Letter to the 
Ephesians. — The so-called letter to the Ephesians was probably 
not meant for the Ephesians at all. 2 It seems clear that it was in- 
tended for readers with whom Paul was not personally acquainted 
(see, e. g., Eph. 3:2). The only suggestion of the New Testament 
in regard to the readers is that they may have been at Laodicea. 
In the letter to the Colossians the writer speaks of a letter "from 
Laodicea" which they are to read, presumably a letter which he had 
written to the Laodiceans (Col. 4: 16). It is natural to identify the 
letter to the Laodiceans with the so-called letter to the Ephesians 
because it appears from Colossians that conditions in Colossae and 
Laodicea were similar (Col. 4: 16), and by the side of this fact stands 
the similarity, often very close, between the letter to the Colossians 
and our Ephesians (cf., e. g., Col. 1:3, 4 with Eph 1:15; Col. 3:18 — 
4. 1 with Eph. 5:22 — 6:9; and, in general, the teaching in regard 
to Christ). But whether the readers were at Laodicea or in some 
other city in the vicinity of Colossae is of subordinate importance. 
The chief point for our present survey is the fact that a report of 
their condition had reached Paul in Rome, which report was of such 
a character that it inspired our letter. From the extraordinary charac- 
ter of the letter we may infer the extraordinary character of the re- 
port. It spoke of their faith in Jesus and their love toward all the 
saints (Eph. 1:15). So also had the report from Colossae spoken 
of that church (Col. 1:3, 4). Yet the faith and love of the unnamed 
church seem to have stirred the apostle more deeply than the report 

1 On this expression see Gal. 4:3, 8. The reference is not to the principles of 
the Mosaic law, but to "angels who represent the elements" (von Soden). 

2 The words "in Ephesus" are lacking in certain of the oldest authorities for the 
text (see margin R. V.), and the character of the letter itself furnishes strong evidence 
that it was not written to a church with which Paul had sustained the intimate and 
long-continued relations which he had had with the church in Ephesus. Some have 
supposed that it was a circular letter addressed to a number of churches in Asia, of 
which Ephesus may perhaps have been one. See recent works on New Testatment 
Introduction. 



Paul's roman imprisonment 213 

of Christian progress at Colossae. The letter which that faith and 
love occasioned seems to have been written out of a heart overflowing 
with gratitude and triumphant joy. No other letter of Paul main- 
tains throughout so lofty a plane of thought and feeling. No other 
letter is so poetical, so pervaded by serene hope and courage and 
gladness. Large sections of it have the exaltation and glow of the best 
hymns (e. g., 1:3-14; 2:4-10; 3:14-21; 4:11-16; 6:10-20). 

The members of the unnamed church are not thought of as per- 
fect. Some of them need to be warned against even such gross 
sins as falsehood and stealing, covetousness and drunkenness (4:25, 
28; 5:3; 18). In the relationship of husbands and wives, children 
and parents, servants and masters, the ideal has by no means been 
attained. But in the church as a whole is manifested a genuine faith 
in Jesus and an incorruptible love. The letter makes the impres- 
sion of a company of men and women whose eyes have beheld the 
vision of Christ, and in whom a new life is struggling mightily for 
complete mastery. The apostle goes before them as a leader in 
the Christian way, confident that his readers will follow even unto 
"the stature of the fulness of Christ." Such, in general, was the 
unnamed church to which the so-called letter to the Ephesians was 
sent. If this letter lights up the room in Rome where Paul w r as held 
a prisoner, it also sheds a glory upon the Christian estate of its readers. 
We do not know who planted the gospel among them, but it seems 
plain from the letter that it was planted deeply and w T ell. It is prob- 
ably true that the church to w r hich this letter was sent, as also that 
at Colossae, was, indirectly, a foundation of Paul, for he by his great 
work in Ephesus thoroughly established the gospel in the Roman 
province of Asia. 

§ 150. The Trial and Death of Paul. 

1. Some -fixed points. — When Paul wrote to the Philippians and 
to Philemon, i. e., late in the second year of his imprisonment, 1 he 
was confident that he should be released (Phil. 2:24; Philem. 22). 
He asked Philemon to prepare a lodging for him, and told the Philip- 

1 Phil. 1:12-18 looks back over a considerable period. Phil. 2:25-30 involves 
four journeys between Philippi and Rome, besides a period of indefinite length in which 
Epaphroditus hazarded his life in ministering to Paul's needs. This passage there- 
fore suggests that the letter can hardly have been written before the latter part of the 
second vear. 



214 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

pians that he trusted he should see them shortly. Now Paul was 
in a position to know something of the probable course of events. 
He had been in Rome a long time, and had Christian brethren in 
Caesar's household. He doubtless had some good grounds on which 
to base his hope of release. His conviction is one of the fixed points 
which we have to guide our thought. And it may be noticed here 
that we have no reason to think that Paul's expectation was not 
realized. There is no evidence that this hope proved to be groundless. 
Of course, he may have been mistaken in thinking that he should be 
liberated, but there is nothing to indicate that this was the case. For 
— and this is another fixed point — there is evidence that Paul was 
put to death under Nero, but none that determines the year of his 
death. Clement of Rome, in his first letter to the Corinthians, 
which Harnack assigns to the period 93-95 a. d., testifies that Paul 
suffered martyrdom under the prefects. This connects his death 
with Rome, but does not indicate the year. If that was known in 
the time of Clement, it was afterward lost. Hence, as Nero did not 
die until 68 a. d., the martyrdom of Paul may have occurred in any one 
of a half-dozen years. The fact, then, that the apostle suffered in 
the reign of Nero does not have any bearing upon the other fixed 
point, that, in the second year of his imprisonment, he was confident 
that he should be released. 

There is still another point to be taken into account. As far as 
Acts and the letters of Paul are concerned, if we leave out of con- 
sideration the letters to Timothy and Titus, there is no evidence 
that Paul's imprisonment terminated with a formal trial. True, he 
was sent to Rome -to be tried, but Festus and Agrippa had admitted 
that there was no damaging evidence against him, and that he might 
have been set at liberty if he had not appealed to Caesar. Further, 
there is no evidence that any accusers ever appeared against Paul in 
Rome, if we still disregard the letters to Timothy and Titus. Indeed, 
the fact that his case was not taken up for at least two years favors 
the supposition that his enemies did not follow him to the metropolis. 
We are at liberty, then, to think that when Paul wrote to the 
Philippians and Philemon, and expressed the hope of a speedy re- 
lease, he expected that the case against him would simply be quashed. 

2. Some possible evidence. — The letters to Timothy and Titus 



PAULS ROMAN IMPRISONMENT 21 5 

can not, according to many recent scholars, be accepted as altogether 
genuine. They contain Pauline elements, and they contain elements 
(especially i Timothy and Titus) which, it is thought, can not have 
originated with Paul. It is generally agreed that there was no time 
in the life of the apostle up to the Roman imprisonment in which 
the letters could have been written. The situation of the writer in 
the respective letters is either to be brought down this side of that 
imprisonment, or is to be regarded as fictitious. Now the allusions 
to the movements of the author are a part of the letters which, it 
appears to me, can with least show of conclusive argument be re- 
garded as subsequent to the time of Paul. But these allusions imply 
that Paul was set at liberty, that he returned to the East, that he 
visited Corinth, where Erastus who had been with him stopped 
(2 Tim. 4 : 20), Macedonia and Crete (1 Tim. 1:3; Titus 1:5), probably 
also Ephesus, to which place Aquila and Priscilla may have accom- 
panied him (2 Tim. 4:19), that he visited Troas also, where he left 
a cloak with Carpus (2 Tim. 4:13), and Miletus, at which place Tro- 
phimus was left behind ill (2 Tim. 4:20). While at Ephesus, Paul 
may have carried out his purpose to visit Philemon at Colossae 
(Philem. 22). He purposed to spend the winter in Nicopolis, perhaps 
the city of that name in Epirus (Titus 3:12). The letters do not 
enable us to determine the course which Paul took on this eastern 
journey. Since he planned to winter in Nicopolis, and then in the 
second letter to Timothy urged him to come on to the place of his 
imprisonment before the winter, it may be surmised that his arrest 
took place in or near Nicopolis. These allusions to a journey among 
the churches of Achaia, Macedonia, and Asia — a journey for which 
there is no place in the record of Paul's life prior to the Roman im- 
prisonment — accord with the purpose which we know Paul cherished 
at the time when he wrote to the Philippians and Philemon. 

There is nothing in 2 Timothy that necessarily points to Rome, 
even as there is no clue given regarding the grounds on which Paul 
was again imprisoned. Yet since trustworthy tradition puts the 
martyrdom of Paul in Rome, and since in this letter he speaks as 
though anticipating death in the near future, the only probable sup- 
position regarding the imprisonment and trial of which the letter 
speaks is that they were in Rome. The difference between Paul's 



2l6 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

condition according to 2 Timothy and that which is reflected in 
Philippians and the last verses of Acts is very marked. Then his 
friends were with him; now one and another has deserted him. 
Then he looked for speedy release ; now he looks for speedy death. 
Then there was no allusion whatever to any hostility of the govern- 
ment toward him; now he speaks of being delivered "out of the 
mouth of the lion." Then there was no indication that accusers had 
appeared against Paul in Rome; now he speaks of his "defense," 
and also of the evil done him by a certain Alexander, who, as 
Timothy is warned against him, may be regarded as a native of 
Ephesus, possibly the same man who attempted to speak in defense 
of the Jews in the theatre during the tumult raised by Demetrius 
(Acts 19:33). 

It appears according to 2 Timothy that Paul had been put on trial, 
but that the evidence brought against him had not been strong 
enough to secure his immediate conviction. It may be supposed 
that his enemies were given further time to summon witnesses, or 
to procure other evidence. It is obvious, then, that he can not 
have been on trial simply for being a Christian. He would not have 
defended himself against that charge, but would at once have frankly 
confessed that it was true. If the accusation against him was that 
he had long been a disturbing element in the empire, and that his 
preaching had led to riots, doubtless it was capable of being estab- 
lished. But beyond the general fact that he suffered martyrdom 
in Rome in the reign of Nero nothing is definitely known about the 
close of his great career. 

151. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) Describe the 
Roman imprisonment of Paul. (2) What indication have we of the 
location of his lodging? (3) Why did Paul seek a conference with 
the Jews of Rome ? (4) Had they any knowledge of him ? (5) 
Why did the Jews seek a conference with Paul? (6) What was 
the result of this conference ? (7) What details regarding Paul's 
Roman activity are found in the letters to the Philippians and Colos- 
sians ? (8) What old helpers were with Paul in Rome, and what 
special aid did he receive ? (9) What was the general condition of 
the church at Philippi at this time ? What officers did they have ? 



Paul's roman imprisonment 217 

What occasioned the letter to them ? (10) What indication does the 
letter contain that there was a vigorous Christian life at Philippi ? 
(11) Locate Colossae; describe the origin of the church there and its 
condition when the letter was written to it. (12) What false teach- 
ing threatened the church at Colossse ? (13) What effect would its 
acceptance have had on the doctrine of Christ ? (14) Whence did 
this false teaching come ? (15) What was the probable destination 
of the letter to the Ephesians ? (16) What does the letter suggest 
about the Christian estate of the readers ? 

(17) When was Paul confident of release, and what is the sig- 
nificance of this fact ? (18) What is the tradition concerning the 
time and place of Paul's death? Does it fix the year? (19) What 
facts suggest that Paul may have been released without trial ? (20) 
What letters may throw some light on the close of Paul's life ? 
(21) What allusions are there in these letters to an eastern journey 
and a second arrest ? (22) W r hat differences are there between 
Paul's imprisonment according to 2 Timothy and that imprison- 
ment which is reflected in the last verses of Acts and in Philippians ? 
(20) What suggestions has 2 Timothy regarding a trial of Paul ? 

§ 152. Supplementary Topics for Study and References to Lit- 
erature. 

1. Write a chapter on the Roman imprisonment of Paul and the 
close of his life. 

2. On Nero and his persecution see : 

Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. 16; and 
Weizsacker, The Apostolic Age, Vol. II, pp. 141 ff. 

3. On the origin of the letters to Timothy and Titus consult such 
recent works on New Testament Introduction as Godet, Julicher, 
Zahn, Holtzmann, and Salmon. 

4. On the carrying out of Paul's plan to visit Spain see : 
McGiffert, The Apostolic Age, pp. 415 ff. and Findlay in Hastings' Bible 

Dictionary, article "Paul the Apostle." The student will have noticed, in 
the course of the last chapter, that when Paul was in prison at Rome his thoughts 
turned back to the East. If he still planned to go to Spain, he had postponed 
the visit. 



PART V 

CHRISTIANITY IN THE LATTER PART OF THE FIRST 

CENTURY 



CHAPTER XXIII 

THE LIFE OF A JEWISH-CHRISTIAN CHURCH AS SEEN THROUGH 
THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 

SYNOPSIS 

§ 153. The authorship and date of the Epistle to the Hebrews. 
§ 154. The spiritual condition of the church to which the Epistle to the Hebrews 
was written. 

§ 153. The Authorship and Date of the Letter to the Hebrews. — This can 
be determined within certain broad limits, but not precisely; and for our present 
purpose this indefiniteness is not important. That the author was a Jew and a 
Hellenist is the common belief of scholars, and as to the date of composition, it 
is plain that Hebrews was not written until the second Christian generation (Heb. 
2: 3i *3 : 7)> but yet before Clement, Epistle to the Corinthians (93-95 A. d.). 

It is, however, more important to ask after the readers of the Epistle to the 
Hebrews. These have been sought in Jerusalem, Alexandria, Rome, Antioch, 
and elsewhere. Some scholars have supposed that they were Jews, others that 
they were gentiles, and yet others that they were all Christian believers without 
regard to nationality. The question need not here be discussed at length, but 
we will briefly indicate the reasons for holding that it was addressed to the church 
at Jerusalem. First, the title "to the Hebrews" (jpfc 'Efipalovs), though not a part 
of the original letter, represents the only tradition of the early church in regard to 
its destination, a tradition found both at Alexandria and Rome. As this early 
tradition points to Jewish-Christians exclusively, it points to Palestine, for we know 
of no church elsewhere that was exclusively, or even predominantly, Jewish-Chris- 
tian; and if it points to Palestine, then most naturally to the church at Jeursalem. 

Again, the argument of the epistle from the first chapter throughout seems 
much better adapted to Jewish than to gentile readers. The author seeks to 
show that the Christian revelation is superior to that which was made to the 
fathers, and here and there he turns aside to exhort his readers not to drift away 
(Heb. 2:1), that is, away from the truth that the revelation in Christ is superior 
to that of the Old Testament. Now this method of argument is perfectly intelli- 
gible if the readers were Jews; but it is not plain why an author should address 
gentile readers on this wise, since there was no gentile church in the first century, 
so far as we know, that exalted the Old Testament revelation above the revelation 
in Christ. The only people who actually did that made their headquarters in 
Jerusalem; they were judaizers, the extremists of the Jewish-Christian church. 
The only church in which there was a tendency to place Moses above Christ, or 
on the same level with him, was the church in Palestine. 



222 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

Finally, there is a passage in the epistle itself that seems to point to Jerusalem 
as the home of the readers, viz., 13:10-14. The author exhorts his readers to 
go forth with him "without the camp," for they "have not here an abiding city." 
The meaning of this figurative language is obvious if Jerusalem stands in the 
background. 

§ 154. The Spiritual Condition of the Church to Which the 
Epistle to the Hebrews Was Addressed. — The church at Jerusalem, 
to which, on the basis of the above evidence we may believe this letter 
to have been written, was a church with a good record. Its members 
had endured a great conflict of suffering (Heb. 10:32); they had 
taken joyfully the spoiling of their possessions (Heb, 10:34); they 
had before them the example of rulers who had nobly ended their 
lives (Heb. 13:7). Nor was their present estate wholly without praise- 
worthy features. There were some members who ministered to their 
brethren (Heb. 6:10; 13:1), as had been done in time past. There 
were still some who assembled together for worship (Heb. 10:25), 
and who strove against sin, even though their striving was not unto 
blood (Heb. 12:5). But the church as a whole was losing its earlier 
spiritual vigor, and was tending toward a judaizing formalism. 
They were dull of hearing (Heb. 5:11), satisfied with the first lessons 
of truth (Heb. 6:1); they wavered in the confession of their hope 
(Heb. 10:23); their hands hung down and their knees were palsied 
(Heb. 12:12); they were becoming unmindful of the claim of love 
(Heb. 13:2, 16), and open to divers strange teachings (Heb. 13:9); 
and they were inclined toward the service of the tabernacle (Heb. 13: 
9, 10). Their doctrinal error was a failure to hold fast the beginning 
of their confidence in Christ, and at the same time an exaltation 
of the imperfect revelation of the law; and their practical defect was 
a loss of love. 

Such was the general condition of the church which had been 
founded at Pentecost, and in which, during its earlier years, the 
apostles had labored. 

§ 155. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) What reasons 
are there for thinking that the Epistle to the Hebrew was addressed 
to the church at Jerusalem? (2) What had distinguished this 
church in the past? (3) Describe its condition when this letter 



LIFE OF A JEWISH-CHRISTIAN CHURCH 223 

was written. (4) What did the writer seek to accomplish by his 
letter ? 

§ 156. Supplementary Topic for Study. — On the basis of the 
preceding discussion and of a careful reading of the Epistle to the 
Hebrews write a paragraph on the condition of the church 
addressed. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE INNER LIFE OF THE CHURCHES OF CRETE AND ASIA AS 
SEEN THROUGH THE LETTERS TO TIMOTHY AND TITUS, 
THE LETTERS OF JOHN, AND THE REVELATION 

SYNOPSIS 

§ 157. General condition of the churches. 
§ 158. Errors in doctrine. 

§157. General Condition of the Churches. — The letters to Tim- 
othy and Titus and the first three chapters of Revelation make a 
strong impression that the condition of the churches with which 
they deal was very unsatisfactory. This is much less noticeably the 
case with the letters of John, though they speak of many antichrists 
and many false prophets, to whom the world gives heed (1 John 2 : 
1854:1, 5). But the letters of Timothy and Titus certainly did not 
aim to give a general survey of church conditions, and accordingly 
their data can be used for such a survey only with great caution. 
The first three chapters of Revelation purport to reflect the general 
state of Christianity in the churches of Asia (seven by name, but 
this number doubtless used representatively), and their picture 
makes a more favorable impression than is made by the letters of 
Timothy and Titus. The letters of John, which also are doubtless 
to be associated with the churches of the province of Asia and the 
first of which appears to be general in character, contain still more 
of light and less of shade. 

In the churches of Crete the unruly men and vain talkers were 
"many, " and they overthrew the faith of whole houses (Titus 1 : 10, 
11); but these men were would-be teachers, such, apparently, 
as sought the office of leader, and hence their number is not to be 
regarded as large in comparison with the entire church. The letters 
to Timothy, so far as they directly concern the Christian state of 
the church in Ephesus, deal with a fraction of the community, and 
that fraction is seemingly a small minority. "Some" had made 
shipwreck concerning the faith, but only two names are mentioned 
(1 Tim. 1:19). "Some" were profane babblers, and said that the 

224 



LIFE OF THE CHURCHES OF CRETE AND ASIA 225 

resurrection was already past, but here again only two names are 
mentioned (2 Tim. 2:17). In the "grievous times" when evil men 
and imposters waxed worse and worse, the author speaks of the 
folly of these evil men as destined to be made manifest to "all," as 
though they were but a small fraction of the Christian community. 

According to the first letter of John, the great majority of the 
Christian circle which the author addressed were "children of God," 
who had an anointing from the Holy One (1 John 3:1; 2 : 20) ; they 
had not been led astray (1 John 3:7), they believed in the name of 
the Son of God (i John 5:13), they shared the great and precious 
knowledge of him and the Father (1 John 5:18-20). In the indi- 
vidual church into which 2 John gives us a glimpse, if there were 
some who were in danger of going onward and not abiding in the 
teaching of Christ, there were also those who walked in truth; and 
the third letter introduces us to a church in which, if there was a 
Diotrephes who loved the pre-eminence, there was a Gaius whose 
soul prospered and a Demetrius who had the witness of all and of 
the truth itself. 

The survey of Asiatic Christianity, which is given in the Revela- 
tion, discovers but one church that is deserving of no praise (Lao- 
dicea), and over against this we may place another that receives 
praise unmingled with any word of blame (Philadelphia). Even in 
the one church which is said to be dead (Sardis) there are a few 
members whose spiritual garments are undefiled. Of the other 
four churches, there was one whose past was brighter than its present 
(Ephesus), another whose present was brighter than its past (Thy- 
atira), one that was spiritually "rich" and prepared for the approach- 
ing tribulation (Smyrna), and another in which Christian faithfulness 
had received the martyr's crown (Pergamum). The pictures of three 
out of the four are not without shadows, but notwithstanding these 
shadows we cannot fail to recognize in them living churches in which 
the gospel was bearing genuine fruit. 

§ 158. Errors in Doctrine. — In three of the churches of Asia (Ephesus, 
Pergamum, Thyatira) — the only ones in which any doctrinal error is specified — 
we hear of the teaching of Balaam, which consisted of two articles, viz., that 
Christians might (or should) eat sacrificial meat and commit fornication. This 
teaching was also characterized as "Nicolaitan," possibly from some Nicolas who 



226 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

was its originator or more eminent exponent. It was formally set forth in Thya 
tira by a woman who claimed the name of prophetess. 

This doctrine reminds us at once of the articles of compromise which were 
proposed at the conference in Jerusalem and accepted by the church at Antioch. 
The eating of sacrificial meat and the practice of fornication (intermarriage with 
near relatives) were there named as two things from which gentile Christians 
should abstain in order to have fellowship with their Jewish brethren. The 
association of just these two practices in Revelation suggests, indeed, some con- 
nection with the compromise of the early day, but that was probably not the case. 
The comparison of the error in the church at Pergamum with the practice of 
Balak (see Num. 25:1, 2) shows that the word "fornication" was meant to be 
taken in its literal signification, but it is impossible to take it thus in Acts 15 : 29. 
It is possible that the practice of eating sacrificial meat in some of the Asiatic 
churches had existed from the time of Paul, or that it appealed to some word of his. 
We know that he allowed the practice subject to one condition, viz., the brother's 
welfare. Why the author of Revelation looked on the practice as Satanic (Rev. 
2:24) we do not know. We are equally uninformed on what grounds any per- 
sons who called themselves Christians sought to justify unchastity. It may have 
been a perversion of Paul's doctrine of sin and grace, analogous to that which is 
alluded to in Romans (Rom. 3:8; 6:1). But however the doctrine arose, the 
fact of the practice itself is significant. 

The letters of John combat an error which is new, not being found in any 
New Testament writings of earlier date. It concerned the person of the Savior. 
Some Christians held that Christ was baptized, but denied that he was crucified. 
It was Jesus only who was crucified, the Christ having departed from him. Hence 
the emphasis with which the letter affirms that Jesus is the Christ (1 John 2:22), 
and that Jesus Christ came not in water only, but also in blood (1 John 5:6). The 
false doctrine plainly destroyed the unity of Christ's person, and therefore it was 
opposed with the utmost earnestness. The author of the letter considered that 
it was nothing less than anti-Christian, a practical denial of both the Father and 
the Son. But they who held this speculation regarding Jesus Christ thought 
that they had gone onward from the simple doctrine of the church to something 
higher (2 John 9). This speculation was part of Gnosticism, and may have 
been set forth by Cerinthus, who, according to Irenaeus {Heresies, 3. 3. 4), was a 
contemporary of John and lived in Ephesus. 

Of the forms of error alluded to in the letters to Timothy and Titus nothing 
definite can be made out. There were persons who said that the resurrection 
was past (2 Tim. 2: 17); there were others who opposed marriage and the eating 
of meat (1 Tim. 4:3); there was a teaching of endless genealogies and fables 
(1 Tim. 1:4; 2 Tim. 4:4). But these references are all vague. One thing, how- 
ever, is clear from a survey of the writings which we are now considering, viz., 
that many forms of error arose within the church in the last quarter of the first 
century, threatening both its fundamental doctrines and the purity of its life. 



LIFE OF THE CHURCHES IN CRETE AND ASIA 227 

§ 159. Concerning Organization. — The first letter to Timothy and the letter 
to Titus contain certain very noteworthy features in the matter of ecclesiastical 
organization. Titus is represented as having authority to appoint ciders in the 
cities of Crete, as well as to set in order other things that were wanting (Titus 
1:5). Timothy, in a like manner, is clothed with authority superior to that of 
bishops. The sending to him of a list of qualifications for the office of bishop 
implies that he would make use of this information in the examination of 
candidates (1 Tim. 3); and again, his position is clearly indicated when he 
is told not to receive an accusation against an elder unless it is supported by 
two or three witnesses. Thus he is evidently thought of as presiding over the 
elders. 

Here, then, we have a significant fact, viz., that Timothy and Titus are as- 
sumed to have authority from Paul supeiror to that of bishops. But of such a 
transfer of authority by Paul or any other apostle there is no trace in Acts or in 
other New Testament writings with the exception of 1 Timothy and Titus. More- 
over, the letters of Paul do not once indicate that he himself assumed to appoint 
an elder on his own authority. He and Barnabas together, according to Acts 
(Acts 14:23), appointed elders in the churches of Pisidia and Lycaonia, though 
it is doubtful whether they did this without church action {x eL P 0T0V 'n <TavT ^)- 
Since, then, there is no evidence that Paul himself appointed elders, it seems 
altogether unlikely that he delegated authority to others to appoint elders. This 
feature, therefore, seems to point to a time considerably later than Paul. 

Again, in 1 Timothy and Titus it appears to be taken for granted that every 
church had one or more elders (Titus 1:5; 1 Tim. 3:1); but we have already 
noticed that the church at Corinth, of which we have fuller knowledge than of 
any other Christian community in the apostolic age, appears to have had no 
elders at the time when the letters were written to it, and also that we have no 
trace of formal organization in the church at Rome at the time of Paul's letter. 
This point also suggests, at least, that these passages in 1 Timothy and Titus re- 
flect the practice of an age subsequent to the life of Paul. 

Once more, 1 Timothy refers to a body of elders, a presbytery (1 Tim. 4: 14), 
by the laying-on of whose hands Timothy was supposed to have some "gift." 
But the organization of elders into a body that performed certain official acts can 
not have taken place until the appointment of elders had become general, and 
presumably, it was not a little later than that. 

Finally, the elaborate statement of the qualifications necessary to fit one for 
the office of elder or deacon is not only wholly without parallel in other writings 
of the New Testament, but in itself is suggestive of a time when these offices were 
thoroughly established. At the appointment of the Seven, it was sufficient to 
find men who were of good report and full of the Spirit and of wisdom (Acts 6:3). 
Very different from this simplicity is the elaborateness of specification in 1 Tim. 
3 and Titus 1 : 5-9. 

Thus in four particulars these letters point to an age in which the organiza- 



228 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

tion of the church had become, or, at least, was in process of becoming, thor- 
oughly solidified. 1 

§ 1 60. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) What is the 
general impression regarding the state of the church which is made 
by the letters of Timothy and Titus? (2)^ The impression made 
by 1 John ? (3) The impression made by Revelation 1-3 ? (4) 
What reasons are there for thinking that the "unruly talkers" and 
" profane babblers" in Crete and Ephesus were only a small minority 
of the church? (5) How did the author of 1 John describe the 
majority of the Christian community to which he wrote ? (6) Give 
details regarding the churches of Asia as seen in Revelation 1-3. 

(7) What was the doctrine of the "Balaamites" ? (8) Was there 
any connection between it and the articles of the Jerusalem com- 
promise ? (9) What new error do the letters of John combat ? 
(10) Name some of the errors referred to in the letters to Timothy 
and Titus. 

(11) What authority are Timothy and Titus represented as having ? 
(12) Why does this suggest a time later than the life of Paul? (13) 
Specify three other features of organization in 1 Timothy and Titus 
which seem to be post-Pauline. 

§ 161. Supplementary Topics of Study and References to Lit- 
erature. — 

1. On the basis of the preceding discussion and of a careful 
reading of the letters to Timothy and Titus, also the letters of John 
and the first three chapters of Revelation, write a short chapter on 
the condition of the churches of Crete and Asia in the latter part of 
the first century. 

2. On Gnosticism see : 

Harnack, History of Dogma, Vol. I; Headlam in Hastings' Bible Dictionary, 
article " Gnosticism." 

1 If the widows of i Tim. 5 are regarded as a distinct order in the church — a view 
which there is little to favor — this, too, would better suit the end of the century than 
the times of Paul (see Bennett in Hastings' Bible Dictionary, article "Widows"). 



CHAPTER XXV 

THE ABIDING SIGNIFICANCE OF THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

§ 162. The apostolic age in relation to Jesus. 

§ 163. The apostolic age and the Christian faith. 

§ 164. Limitations of the apostolic age. 

We have now completed our survey of the short but momentous 
period in which the Christian religion was first promulgated. The 
details of this movement, so far as our fragmentary records have 
preserved them, have been passed in review. We have had glimpses 
of strong heroic men and women intent on the fulfilment of what 
they felt to be a divine mission. We have seen little fires of the 
new faith kindled in the greater cities and towns on the east and 
north of the Mediterranean Sea. Various results of the Christian 
movement on individual character have been noticed, also its reaction 
on the synagogue and its relation to the Roman government. 

Looking away now from the details of the apostolic history, let 
us seek, in conclusion, to form some estimate of its abiding signifi- 
cance as a whole. 

§ 162. The Apostolic Age in Relation to Jesus. — We have seen 
that the period which is called the apostolic age began with extraor- 
dinary manifestations of spiritual power within a few weeks after 
the death and resurrection of Jesus. There had been no interval 
in which legends regarding him could have grown up to obscure 
the sharp outlines of his brief ministry or to blur the plain sense 
of his words. Such legends may have sprung up at an early day, 
but not between the close of the earthly ministry of Jesus and the 
creative beginning of the apostolic age. Nor does that age itself, 
if we regard it as practically closed with the death of Peter and 
Paul, reveal to us the origin of any important legend affecting the 
outlines of the historical Jesus. If any such legend took definite 
shape during those years, the fact lies beyond our knowledge. 

The record of the apostolic age is then an unimpeachable witness 
to the reality and power of Jesus of Nazareth. Its record does not 

229 



23O CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

mirror to us, in large number, the separate details of Jesus' life and 
the words he spoke, but rather his personal spiritual power over 
human life. If we had no gospel according to Mark with its vivid 
picture of the manner in which Jesus wrought on the physical condi- 
tion of the sick and suffering, the record of the apostolic age would 
supply its essential truth. If we had no gospel according to Matthew 
with its priceless collection of the Master's words, the record of the 
apostolic age would not only convince us that these words ur such 
as these had been spoken, but would give us a fairly distinct idea 
of their scope and spirit. If we had no gospel according to Luke 
with its perception of the tenderness and comprehensiveness of the 
sympathy and love of Jesus, the record of the apostolic age would 
constrain us to infer that these qualities existed in him in a superlative 
degree. 

Thus the events and incidents of the apostolic age, antedating as 
they do the composition of our gospels, affirm with many clear 
voices that just back of them, in the then immediate past, lived 
and acted a man of immeasurable spiritual resources. They witness 
not only that Jesus was able to win adherents who would gladly 
die for him, but they witness what is vastly more significant, that 
there proceeded from him a subtle power by which the characters 
and lives of men were marvelously transformed, and that this power 
gave promise already of an entirely new social order — a kingdom of 
righteousness and peace and joy. 

§ 163. The Apostolic Age and the Christian Faith. — The record 
of the apostolic age not only brings us near to the historical Jesus, 
and thus possesses an abiding value for all Christians, but its con- 
ception of the religion of Jesus is also of permanent importance. 
This importance grows mainly from two facts — the nearness of the 
apostolic age to the historical events on which the Christian religion 
was based and the exceptional ability of its leading representatives. 

Nearness to the underlying historical events gave to the Chris- 
tianity of the apostolic age an eminently vital and practical character. 
Some of the first preachers had been personal companions of Jesus, 
all of them were men of his generation. The force of the historical 
facts gave to the new religion an atmosphere of intense reality. It 
left little room for speculation and theorizing. This force impelled 



ABIDING SIGNIFICANCE OF APOSTOLIC AGE 23 1 

believers to be missionaries rather than theologians. It stirred the 
human mind profoundly, it is true, and as nothing before had stirred 
it; but this quickening was still controlled and directed by the most 
practical considerations. In short we may say that the nearness of 
the historical facts made the Christianity of the apostolic age emi- 
nently Christian, that is, made it revolve around the personality of the 
historical Jesus. 

Then, in the second place, the exceptional ability of the leading 
believers in the apostolic age gave to its conception of the religion of 
Jesus exceptional value. The men who stood at the head of the Jewish 
section of the new society — Peter and James and John — and those 
who led in the greater work among the gentiles — Paul and Barnabas, 
Silas and Timothy, Luke and Titus, Aquila and Prisca and Apollos 
with many others, were people of eminent endowments. Of this 
statement the establishment, the geographical expansion, and the 
spiritual development of the Jewish and gentile churches within the 
life-time of these men and women, beset as the work was with great 
peril and difficulty on every side, are brilliant and conclusive proof. 
The foregoing pages have furnished indirect evidence of this claim 
in the case of several of the leading characters. 

This combination of exceptional ability with exceptional historical 
position gave to the conception of the religion of Jesus which prevailed 
in the apostolic age very great significance. There is but slight 
foundation for the claim that the Christianity of the apostolic age 
should be regarded as normative because of the official relation 
which the leaders of that age sustained to Christ. It will be remem- 
bered that only three of the original apostles appear in our record 
of the work of the early church, 1 and their labors were practically 
confined to the Jews. Of those who led in the work among the 
gentiles even Paul, though spiritually an apostle, can hardly be 
called an apostle in the official ecclesiastical sense of the word. His 
apostleship did not conform to the conditions laid down in Acts 1 : 
21 ff., for he had not been a witness of the earthly ministry of Jesus.. 
Our claim, then, that the Christianity of the apostolic age has peculiar 

1 It must be remembered that the original apostles, of whose work we know so little, 
were probably of greatest significance as the fashioners, and largely also the source, 
of the oral tradition of the life and work of Jesus. 



232 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

significance rests not upon any outward and official relationship, 
but upon more stable facts. 

§ 164. Limitations of the Apostolic Age. — As Christians we do 
not seek our Golden Age in the past. Judaism out of which Chris- 
tianity sprang was a religion of the future, and still more was this 
true of the new faith. It anticipated a glorious consummation 
when the will of God should be done on earth as it is done in heaven. 
This hope was not realized in the apostolic age. They who lived in 
those intense years and wrought with Peter and Paul, with Barnabas, 
Clement, Epaphras, and their co-workers, saw only the brilliant 
beginning of its realization. 

While, therefore, we look back across the centuries to the apos- 
tolic age with peculiar admiration and with deep gratitude, and 
while we place at least one of its great heroic names above all those 
of the intervening generations, it is not our Golden Age. That 
lies before us, and far above both our level and that of the apostolic 
age. 

The Christianity of the present day is without doubt of a more 
perfect sort than was that which sprang up out of heathenism under 
the ministry of Paul and his fellow-laborers. Could the men of 
that time have had a clear vision of the church and the Christian 
civilization of the twentieth century, they might have thought that 
the consummation of the ages was not far beyond what they saw. 
The close of the apostolic age saw a company of believers which, 
though considerable, was yet unknown to the great mass of people 
in the Roman empire; now their successors dominate the world. 
Then there were but few agencies in operation for the spread of the 
kingdom, now the agencies are numbered by thousands. Then the 
means of attaining a knowledge of the facts of Christianity and of 
the Old Testament revelation were, for the larger part of believers, 
limited to the evangelists who went about from place to place teaching 
and preaching; now these means are most diversified and ample. 
Then the body of believers were but poorly educated, when educated 
at all, and though they might have an intense and pure Christian 
life in the heart, they were not able to attain a broad and intelligent 
grasp of the new religion; now the body of believers in Christian 
lands are educated, and relatively free from gross superstitions. 



ABIDING SIGNIFICANCE OF APOSTOLIC AGE 233 

Then the church felt no upward pressure from the past. Gathered 
mainly out of heathenism, the hereditary tendency among converts 
was downward rather than upward. Now each generation has 
behind it the accumulated momentum of a long Christian civiliza- 
tion. Its environment is the product of centuries of toil and suffer- 
ing, and brings home to the individual, as was not possible in the 
apostolic age, the importance of Christian ideals and the power of 
the Christian spirit. 

In these fundamental respects, not to mention others, we have 
advanced beyond the apostolic age, though the advance has been 
far less than it ought to have been. This advance, it may be noted, 
has not been evenly distributed through the eighteen and a half 
centuries since the death of Peter and Paul. On the contrary, it 
belongs mainly to the last four centuries. The Christianity of the 
apostolic age was not maintained in the subsequent generations. 
There was a decline from the first century to the sixth, and thereafter 
for eight centuries the church, as regards vital apprehension of 
Christ, simplicity of faith and worship, and the evangelization of 
the world, was but a far-off echo of the apostolic age. A forward 
movement began with the Reformation, and the church has been 
gradually getting into line and sympathy with its high creative 
beginning. Large sections of it, as has been said, have now advanced 
in many particulars beyond that beginning. 

That this advance is in a measure offset by other points in which 
we still fall short of the apostolic age can not be denied. Thus it is 
certain that the outlines of the historical Jesus have become obscured, 
and certain also that with this loss has gone a lessening of the church's 
sense of his reality and a diminution of the spirit of earnestness. 
Moreover, it can hardly be doubted that with the growth of com- 
plexity in organization and in religious ceremonies there has come 
to be an importance attached to these things in themselves which 
hinders the progress of the Christian religion. The trend away 
from simplicity and reality which we see in the history of Judaism 
and, indeed, in the history of every other great religion, is to be 
seen also in the history of Christianity. If it is less marked here than 
elsewhere, and if at times there has been a partial recovery of the 
primitive sense of the reality of Christ and the primitive simplicity 



234 CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

of faith, this has been due in no slight degree to the mighty object- 
lesson on the fundamental truths of the gospel furnished by the 
record of the apostolic age. 

§ 165. Questions and Suggestions for Study. — (1) What gives to 
the apostolic age peculiar significance as a witness to Christ ? (2) To 
what does it witness regarding him ? (3) What two facts give to 
the Christianity of the apostolic age peculiar significance ? 

(4) What was the effect of the nearness of the historical facts upon 
the thought and life of the apostolic age ? (5) What general proof 
have we of the exceptional ability of the leaders of the apostolic age ? 
(6) Can we base the significance of apostolic Christianity upon any 
official relation of its leaders to Christ ? 

(7) Did the apostolic age realize the ideal of Christ ? (8) Name 
some particulars in which the Christianity of the present is in 
advance of that of the apostolic age ? (9) When has this advance 
been made ? (10) Name some points in which apostolic Christianity 
is still in advance of the church. 



APPENDIX 

IMPORTANT POLITICAL EVENTS OF THE APOSTOLIC AGE 

Tiberius Caesar, emperor 14 to 37 a. d. 

34 A. D. Death of Philip, tetrarch of Iturea, Trachonitis, and Gaulonitis. 
His territory made part of the Roman province of Syria. 

36 a. d. Pilate, procurator of Judea (in which was also included Samaria), 

removed from office, and sent to Rome for trial — succeeded by 
Yitellius. 
Caligula, emperor 37 to 41 a. d. 

37 a. d. Herod Agrippa I is given the territories of Lysanias and Philip, 

with the title of king. 

39 a. d. Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, deposed and 

banished to Lugdunum. 

40 a. d. Herod Agrippa I receives also the territory of Antipas. 

41 a. d. Herod Agrippa I receives also Judea and Samaria, formerly ruled 

by procurators. 
Claudius, emperor 41 to 54 a. d. 

44 a. d. Herod Agrippa I dies at Caesarea (Acts 12:20-23). 
? Jews expelled from Rome (Acts 18:2). 

Nero, emperor 54 to 68 a. d. 

52-62 a. d. Antoninus Felix and Porcius Festus, in succession, procurators 
of Judea. Cf. pp. 195, 198. 

66 a. d. The Judeo-Roman war begun. 
Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, in succession, emperors, their combined reigns 

lasting from 68 (June) to 69 A. d. (Dec). 
Vespasian, emperor 69 to 79 a. d. 

70 a. d. The destruction of Jerusalem. 
Titus, emperor 79 to 81 a. d. 
Domitian, emperor 81 to 96 a. d. 
Nerva, emperor 96 to 98 a. d. 
Trajan, emperor 98 to 117 a. d. 



235 



INDEX OF NAMES AND SUBJECTS 



Acts, Book of: see Sources. 

Agabus, 82, 183. 

Agrippa I, 83. 

Agrippa II, 196, 197. 

Alexander of Ephesus, 146. 

Amphipolis, 121. 

Ananias of Damascus, 65, 66. 

Ananias of Jerusalem, 34, 35. 

Antioch (Pisidian), 103. 

Antioch (Syrian): the city, 78; found- 
ing of the church, 80, 81. 

Apollos, 141, 158. 

Apostolic Age: chronological limits, 7; 
chief events, 8; theater of action, 8; 
results of missions, 9; abiding signifi- 
cance, 229-34. 

Aquila, 130, 141, 142, 208, 209, 215. 

Arabia, 67. 

Areopagus, 128. 

Aristarchus, 146, 200, 209. 

Ascension of Jesus, 16, 17. 

Athens, 126, 128. 

Bar-Jesus, 102. 

Barnafas: entrance into Christian fel- 
lowship, 34; work in Antioch, 80; mis- 
sion to Jerusalem, 81-83; with Paul, 
99-106; separated from Paul, 116, 117. 

Bernice, 197. 

Boroza, 125. 

C^ESAREA, 182, 183, 192. 

Carpus, 215. 

Cenchre^e, 132. 

Christian, the name, 81. 

Christian life: among the readers of 
James, 91, 92; among the readers of 
I Peter, 92-94; in Thessalonica, 139, 
140; in Galatia, 150, 151, 153, 154; 
in Corinth, 157-68; in Rome, 174-78; 
in Philippi, 209, 210; in Colossae, 210- 
12; in Ephesus, 212, 213; among the 
readers of Hebrews, 222; among the 
readers of Timothy, Titus, Letters of 
John, Revelation, 224-26. 

Church at Jerusalem: first attempt to 
suppress, 32; second attempt, 36, 37; 



scattered, 47, 48; persecuted by Agrip- 
pa I, 83, 84. 

Claudius Lysias, 186. 

Colossi, 210. 

Conference at Jerusalem, 310-12; re- 
ported at Antioch, 112, 113. 

Community of goods at Jerusalem, 
33, 34- 

Corinth, 130, 156 note, 160. 

Cornelius, 74. 

Crete, 224. 

Crispus, 157, 167. 

Cyprus, 100, 102. 

Deacons: see the "Seven." 

Demetrius, 146. 

Derbe, 105, 106. 

Disciples: gathered in Jerusalem, 17, 18; 
in peace and favor, 26, 27, 33, 34. 

Dium, 126. 

Drusilla, 192, 194. 

Elymas, 102, 103. 

Epaphras, 210, 211. 

Epaphroditus, 209. 

Ephesus, 143. 

Epistles of the New Testament .-^see 
Sources. 

Erastus, 130, 157, 171, 172, 215. 

Euodia, 210. 

Eutychus, 182. 

Fair Havens, 200, 201. 

Felix, 192, 194. 

Festus, 195. 

Galatia, 117, 118. 

Gallio, 132. 

Gaius of Corinth, 130, 157, 167. 

Gaius of Derbe, 106, 146, 154. 

Gamaliel, 36, 37, 55. 

Glossolaly, 164, 165. 

Hebrews, 39. 

Hebrews, Epistle to: see Sources. 

Hellenists, 39, 80. 

Hellenistic synagogues in Jerusalem, 
41. 



237 



2 3 8 



INDEX 



HlERAPOLIS, 2IO. 
ICONIUM, 104. 

Immorality, gentile, in Corinth, 160, 
161. 

James, apostle, 83. 

Tames of Jerusalem, 183; letter of, 
86-90. 

Jason, 124. 

Jewish church, relation to Chris- 
tianity, 9. 10. 

John, 29, ^. 

Joppa, 71. 

Jltdaizers: in Antioch, 109, no; in 
Galatia, 151-53. 

Julius, 199, 202. 

Laodicea, 210, 212. 

Lucius, 99, 100. 

Luke: possibly went with Paul from 
Troas, 119; joined Paul at Philippi, 
181, 200; in Rome, 209. 

Lydda, 71. 

Lydia, 119. 

Lystra, 105. 

Manaen, 99, 100. 

Mark (John), 100, 102, 103, 116, 209. 

Market of Appius, 204. 

Marriage versus celibacy in Corinth, 
161, 162. 

Matthias, choice of, 18, 20. 

Meat, sacrificial, 163. 

Meleda, 202. 

Melita, 202. 

Miletus, 182. 

Myra, 200. 

Nicopolis, 215. 

Onesimus, 208. 

Onesiphorus, 209. 

Ordinances (sacred): at Corinth, 167, 
168; in Troas, 181, 182. . 

Organization of the church: at Thes- 
salonica, 137, 138; in Corinth, 157; in 
Rome, 174, 175; in Philippi, 209; in 
Colossae, 211; organization reflected in 
I Timothy and Titus, 227, 228. 

Paphos, 102. 

Parousia, error concerning at Thes- 
salonica, 138, 139. 

Parties in the Corinthian church, 
157-60. 

Paul: knowledge of his life, 6; family 
and political status, 53, 54; early en- 



vironment and education, 54-56; as a 
persecutor, 56, 57; conversion, 59-65; 
in Damascus and Arabia, 65, 66; return 
to Jerusalem, in Syria, and Cilicia, 67- 
69; in Antioch, 80; sent on a mission 
to Jerusalem, 81-83; from Antioch 
as a missionary, 99, 100; work in 
Cyprus, 100-3; m Antioch of Pisidia, 
103, 104; in Iconium, 104, 105; in 
Lystra and Derbe, 105, 106; conflict 
with Judaizers, 109-14; dispute with 
Barnabas, 116, 117; visits Asiatic 
churches, 117; vision in Troas, 1 1 7-19 ; 
work in Philippi, 1 19-21; in Thessa- 
lonica, 121-25, 136, 137; in Bercea, 
125, 126; in Athens, 126-29; in 
Corinth, 130-32, 156, T57; return to 
Antioch, 132, 133; work in Ephesus, 
141-48; in Macedonia and Achaia, 
171-73; last visit to Jerusalem, 181-85; 
arrested in Jerusalem, 185, 186; be- 
fore the Sanhedrin, 187, 188; taken to 
Caesarea, 188, 189; before Felix, 194, 
before Felix and Drusilla, 194, 195; 
before Festus, 195, 196; before Agrippa 
andBernice, 196, 197; voyage to Rome, 
199-204; imprisoned at Rome, 206-9; 
trial and death, 213-16. 

Pentecost: coming of the Spirit, 22, 
23; sermon of Peter, 23, 24; results, 
25-27. 

Perga, 103. 

Peter: see Pentecost; healed a lame 
man, 29, 30; address in Solomon's 
Porch, 30; how he came to Caesarea, 
71, 72; sermon in house of Cornelius, 

74, 75 ; called to account in Jerusalem, 

75, 76; relation of his act in Caesarea 
to the mission of Paul, 76; escape from 
prison, 83, 84; letter of, 86-90; Chris- 
tian life among the readers of I Peter, 
92-94; at Antioch, 113, 114. 

Philemon, 208, 211, 213, 215. 

Philip; in Samaria, 48-50; with the 

Ethiopian, 50, 51. 
Philippi, 119. 
Priscilla: see Aquila. 
Ptolemais, 182. 
Publius, 202, 203. 

PUTEOLI, 203. 

Resurrection: of Jesus, 15, 16; doc- 
trine of, in Corinth, 165, 167. 

Rhegium, 203. 

Rome: founding of church, 173, 174; 
constitution of the church, 174. 

Roman citizenship, privileges of, 54. 



m 



18«50 



INDEX 



2 39 



roman' government in' relation to 

Christianity, 9, io. 
Samaria: sec Philip. 
Sapphzka; sec Ananias of Jerusalem. 
Sergius Paulus, 102. 

Sk\ IN. APPOINTMENT OF THE, 39, 40. 
SlDON, THE CHURCH AT, 200. 

SIGNS: wrought by apostles. 35; how 
thought of by Peter, 24, 23. 29; wrought 
by Paul, 102, 103. 105, 140, 144, 145, 
203. 

Sn. \s", 116, 120, 126, 12S. 

Simon the sorcerer: see Philip. 

SOSTHENES, 132. 

Sources: general survey of, 3-5; Acts, 

4. 5; Epistles, 5; our knowledge of, 

5. 6; letter of James, 86-90; I Peter, 
88-90; Hebrews, 221, 222. 

Spirit, the Holy: see Pentecost. 
Stephen: his arrest, 41; his defense, 42, 
43; his death, 43, 44. 



Symeon, 99, 100. 

Syntvchk, 210. 

Synzygos, 210. 

Syracuse, 203. 

Tarsus, 54. 

Tertullus, 194. 

Thessalonica, 123. 

Three Taverns, 204. 

Timothy: native of Lystra, 106; with 

Paul on second missionary journey, 117; 

sent to Thessalonica, 126, 128; to 

Macedonia, 171; in Rome ,209. 
Titus Justus, 130. 
Titus, hi, 172. 
Troas, 118, 119. 
Trophimus, 172, 186, 215. 
Tyrannus, school of, 144. 
Tyre, 182. 
Tychicus, 172. 
Women in public worship in Corinth, 

163, 164. 



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